The world is in shock following the sudden and tragic news of Liam Payne’s passing. The 31-year-old former One Direction member was in South America for a concert and had spent time in Argentina with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, before his death on Wednesday, October 16. Kate, however, had already returned to the U.S. a few days earlier.
Up until two days ago, Kate had been active on TikTok, posting videos from Argentina. Her posts included moments like her horseback riding and sharing different food options, with one photo even showing Liam’s arm.
In a post from two days ago, Kate documented her solo flight back to Florida, her home state, captioning the video, “soooo happpiii to b back in sunshine state.” She mentioned they had originally planned to stay in Argentina for five days, but it extended to two weeks.
Kate and Liam’s relationship began in 2022. They were first photographed together in November of that year. Although they broke up in May 2023, they rekindled their romance the following month and remained together.
Who is Liam Payne’s Girlfriend Kate Cassidy?
Before dating Kate, Liam had high-profile relationships with Cheryl Cole, with whom he shares a son named Bear, and Maya Henry, from whom he split in May 2022. Speculation about Liam and Kate’s relationship began around Halloween 2022, but they made their public debut a couple of months later.
Kate, an influencer, and college graduate, was first seen with Liam at a Halloween party in 2022, dressed as Mötley Crüe rocker Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson. They later appeared together at the British Fashion Awards in December 2022, confirming their relationship. Following the event, Kate posted a photo on Instagram, to which Liam humorously commented.
Kate graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2021 and was part of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. She has a growing social media following, with 171,000 Instagram followers at the time of publication, and often shares her travels to luxury destinations like Dubai and Rome.
Kate also met other members of One Direction, including Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, after accompanying Liam to events. The couple attended the premiere of Louis’ documentary All of Those Voices in March 2023, where Kate expressed her admiration for the film.
During their time in Argentina, they were in town for Niall’s concert on his The Show tour before Liam’s passing.
Throughout their relationship, Liam stood by Kate, even defending her from online accusations of being a gold-digger shortly after their relationship went public. Despite their ups and downs, Liam was always supportive of her.
MUST READ: Liam Payne’s Untimely Death: 5 Facts You Probably Did Not Know About Former One Direction Member