Tucci's show sees off competition from David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey.

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy has won an Emmy award - the equivalent of the Oscars for television - for 'Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series' for the CNN programme dedicated to Italian cuisine.

The American actor, writer and producer - whose award-winning film and television career spans four decades - is of direct Italian descent.

In Searching for Italy, which premiered in February this year, Tucci travels across the Bel paese, discovering the "history, secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines."

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The popular six-part travel and food show was filmed in Naples and the Amalfi Coast, Rome, Bologna, Milan, Tuscany and Sicily.

Tucci's show won the Emmy title ahead of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman; Oprah with Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special; United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell; and Vice.