Kate Cassidy never imagined her trip to Argentina with boyfriend Liam Payne would be her last.
“Love is so optimistic, and you just hope that everything will work out at the end,” the influencer, 25, said in an interview with The Sun published on Wednesday, February 5. “Obviously if I knew, if I could see into the future, I would never have left Argentina.”
Cassidy traveled to Buenos Aires with her boyfriend in October 2024, but ended up leaving the trip early. Days after she returned home, Payne died at age 31 after falling from a balcony on the third floor of a hotel. The One Direction singer’s cause of death was listed as “multiple traumas,” including hemorrhages in his chest, skull and abdomen. It was later reported that a partial autopsy found “pink cocaine” — a mix of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA — along with cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack in Payne’s system at the time of his passing.
Cassidy explained that she had a “responsibility” to return to her and Payne’s home to care for their dog, Nala, and that the pair traveled separately on occasion. Before she jetted off, she thought Payne was in a “good headspace.”
Kate Cassidy ‘Always Stuck by’ Liam Payne, Feels Guilty Leaving Argentina
“I just never thought this would have happened, that it would turn out the way it did. It still doesn’t feel fully real for me that he’s not here,” she told the outlet. “I’m trying to be the best I can be, but I feel like my life has changed so much. I think about Liam every second of every day.”
Cassidy was alerted of Payne’s death by one of his friends, who called her to deliver the news.
“That moment, it’s like blank; it’s blacked out in my head,” she recalled. “I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was just a rumor. 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?’”
Liam Payne’s Girlfriend Kate Cassidy Left Argentina 2 Days Before His Death
After learning that Payne was gone, Cassidy confessed that she “blacked out” and felt “numb.” She also attempted to call Payne herself and later reached out to his family.
“Then I was in touch with his family, and my mum got the first flight out to be with me. I remember pacing around the house,” she shared. “Poor Nala thought I was trying to play, she kept jumping up at me. I didn’t sleep at all that night.”
As Cassidy navigates life without Payne, she admitted that it’s been “hard” for her to process her grief.
Kate Cassidy Says Liam Payne Wrote Her a Note About Plans to Marry Her
“I’m 25, I’m not an expert with any of this, so it was hard,” she said. “But I loved him and I loved him no matter what. I just did what I could do, and what I could manage to do.”
Cassidy and Payne began dating in October 2022 and made their official debut as a couple two months later at the British Fashion Awards.
“From the moment I met Liam, I genuinely believed we were soulmates,” Cassidy said on Wednesday. “He was the most humble, charming, normal person you could ever hope to come across, and genuinely one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life.”
