Lea Michele, the brunette beauty who accepted a Teen Choice Award for her role as Rachel Berry on “Glee” last week, remembered her late cast mate and boyfriend, Cory Monteith, in her acceptance speech.

Michele had a difficult time holding back her tears at the beginning of her tribute, wearing a necklace that read simply, “Cory.”

“Thank you guys. Thank you. I just wanted to be here today to personally thank all of you and to tell everyone out there how much your love and support has meant to me over these past difficult few weeks. Thank you. Not that I had any doubt before, but you guys are most certainly the greatest fans in the world and I wanted to dedicate this award to Cory. For all of you out there who loved and admired Cory as much as I did, I wanted to promise that with your love, we’re going to get through this together. He was very special to me and also to the world and we were very lucky to witness his incredible talent, his handsome smile, and his beautiful, beautiful heart. So, whether you knew him personally or just as Finn Hudson, he reached out and became a part of all of our hearts and that’s where he’ll stay forever. Thank you guys so much.”

The August 11 awards show held at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA in Los Angeles, was Michele’s first public appearance since Monteith’s untimely death last month. Monteith, 31, succumbed to a lifelong addiction to heroin and alcohol in his Canada hotel room in the early morning hours of July 13.

Her fellow “Glee” cast members also spoke of Monteith in their speech for “Glee’s” Best Comedy award. Amber Riley said, “Although we lost someone that we really love and that you guys love too, we are very fortunate to come back to a show we love, and Cory was like a brother to us and a Dad, and was always ready to take a picture or sign an autograph for fans. He loved his Gleeks.” Jenna Ushkowtiz then ended their dedication, saying, “We know that Cory wanted to dedicate this award to you guys. Our condolences to all of you as well.”

The “Glee” writers are rumored to be writing Monteith’s character, Finn Hudson, out of the weekly musical in a realistic, addiction-death plotline.

The next season of “Glee” begins on September 26 on Fox.