Kate Cassidy, the girlfriend of the late Liam Payne, has given her first interview since the One Direction singer’s death last year.

Liam died at the age of 31 on October 16 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. The dad-of-one, who shared son Bear with ex Cheryl Tweedy, had been in the country to see his former bandmate Niall Horan perform earlier in the month.

Speaking shortly after Liam’s death, Kate shared her heartbreak on social media and revealed her late partner had been planning to propose to her. “I keep your note close, even though you told me not to look at it. It said, ‘Me and Kate to marry within a year/engaged & together forever’,” Kate said as she posted a handwritten note from Liam with her followers.

Now, almost four months on from Liam’s passing, Kate has discussed her grief in detail. The 25-year-old influencer reveals why she left Liam in Argentina prior to his death, how she is feeling now and how the Strip That Down singer was the love of her life.

Leaving Liam in Argentina

Prior to the tragic events that led to Liam’s death, Kate had been in Buenos Aires with her late partner. The happy couple posted a series of snaps across various social media platforms, including footage of them watching Niall Horan at the Movistar Arena on October 2.

However, unknown to many fans at the time, Kate headed back home to Florida early and left Liam in Argentina in order to care for their rescue dog Nala. “Obviously if I knew, if I could see into the future, I would never have left Argentina,” Kate says. “I had a responsibility, we had a responsibility. We had our dog and obviously I never, ever thought this event would occur.”

Kate Cassidy Liam Payne were on holiday together in Argentina days before his death

But Kate left Liam in the country days before his passing and returned home to Florida
In a TikTok video shared before Liam’s unfortunate passing, Kate expressed her desire to return home to Miami, saying: “I was so ready to leave. Love South America, but I hate staying in one place for too long and we were supposed to be there for five days, turned into two weeks and I was just like, ‘I need to go home.'”.

Speaking to The Sun, Kate goes on to describe Liam’s death as “a tragic accident” and admits the pair had their own separate lives but she never imagined her boyfriend would die so young.

Kate’s final text to Liam

In another heart-wrenching revelation, Kate opens up about the harrowing message she received just days following the One Direction star’s untimely passing. After leaving Argentina, Kate kept herself busy decorating the couple’s shared home ready for Halloween.

The 25-year-old hired professionals to help her transform their Miami home into a spooky retreat ready for the October 31 holiday as a surprise for her boyfriend. In her interview, Kate reveals the final text she sent Liam read: “I can’t wait for you to get home and see the house.”

But Liam would never see Kate’s hard work and died on October 16. While at home dealing with Halloween decorations in the wake of Liam’s death and having paid a handyman to fix their lights, it was a simple follow-up message from the worker—inquiring if Liam had enjoyed his Halloween surprise—that brought the devastating truth crashing down on her. Overcome with grief, Kate broke down as she acknowledged she had never imagined such a fate could befall Liam, and disclosed how they had led “own separate lives”.

Kate feels lucky she didn’t find out Liam had died via social media ( 
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Discovering Liam’s death

Kate shares the devastating moment she was informed of Liam’s passing and reveals it was a blessing not to find out via social media. While many of Liam’s friends and fans discovered the heartbreaking news online, Kate was at home scrolling through TikTok when a gut feeling hit her.

A phone call from one of Liam’s friends confirmed her worst fears. “I feel blessed I didn’t find out over social media because I just couldn’t even imagine that,” she says. She adds: “I was in our home with our dog, scrolling TikTok and one of Liam’s friends called me. That moment, it’s like blank; it’s blacked out in my head.”

“I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was just a rumour. Or something that somebody made up just to get views. Then instantly I just had a bad feeling in my gut. I was like, ‘Why would somebody make this up? Is this true?'” Kate reveals she “blacked out” and instantly felt numb when the news was confirmed.”

In a whirlwind of emotion, she immediately tried to contact her boyfriend in disbelief before reaching out to her closest friends and family, as well as Liam’s heartbroken parents, including his father Geoff, who took the next flight to Argentina. Kate’s mother also hopped on the first available flight to Florida to support her daughter.

Their dog Nala, oblivious to the turmoil Kate was going through, tried to engage the social media influencer in play throughout the night. “I didn’t sleep,” she admits.

Childhood crush

Kate Cassidy also opens up about her childhood crush on Liam, revealing she was just 10 when she fell head over heels for him. Despite the band’s global fame and legions of fans, American Kate always felt a special connection to the Wolverhampton-born singer.

Now 25, Kate never imagined that her dream would become a reality. While most fans only fantasise about meeting their idols, Kate’s life took an unexpected turn when she actually started dating Liam after a serendipitous encounter. In her first interview since Liam’s passing and since they began dating, she reveals Liam was her “childhood crush” and reminisced about having posters of him and his bandmates on her wall since she was a young girl.

“Growing up, I had posters on walls. I think I had a One Direction one but I don’t know if I had his solo poster. But I did have him at some point on my wall,” Kate says. She also admits to copying One Direction’s dance moves, acknowledging Liam’s prowess as a dancer: “Yeah, I probably did the One Direction dance routines – Liam was a pretty good dancer.”