Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy has spoken out for the first time since his death and said the former One Direction star was ‘more than happy’ to reunite with his bandmates

Kate Cassidy has spoken out (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Liam Payne’s girlfriend has broken her silence following the singer’s tragic death, opening up about his deep affection for his One Direction bandmates.

Kate Cassidy, 25, was with Liam in Argentina shortly before he died. She returned to their home in America just days before he fell from the balcony of his hotel in Buenos Aires.

She’s since left their home and returned to her family home in New Jersey as she deals with her grief. Speaking out for the first time since Liam’s death, Kate shared that he “loved One Direction,” saying, “It was such a huge part of his life and career. Who didn’t love them? I think everybody had hopes for a reunion at some point.”

Kate continued, “One Direction was such a huge part of his life and he would have been more than happy in the future to do that.”

Liam found fame with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson on The X Factor in 2010, and they quickly became one of the biggest boybands in the world. However, fans were crushed when the group split in 2016.

In her heartfelt interview with The Sun, Kate disclosed that Liam was “proud” of his fellow band members and “loved them so much he looked at them as brothers.” She added, “It’s so heartbreaking that the fans will never get to see all five boys back on stage together.”

Kate continued, “2030 would have marked 20 years since they first got together and it’s so sad that Liam will never get to relive those memories.”

Kate has received some criticism online from Liam’s fans who believe she should have never left the singer alone in Argentina. “I’m trying to be as strong as I can be,” she admitted. “I feel really alone but I know Liam wouldn’t want me to.”

Kate continued, “He would want me to do what makes me happy and to be as strong as I can be like, no matter what people say. He would tell me: ‘Please just take care of yourself, because I can’t take care of you anymore’.”

Liam had been open about the impact of becoming famous at such a young age. He was only 15 when he first hit the stage and before he knew it, his life was packed with intense performances and relentless touring.

His every move was micromanaged by his team and once that stopped, he confessed he felt lost, not knowing how to handle his own day-to-day. Speaking on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast in 2021, Liam said, “My life’s been so controlled to a point, day sheets, security guards, you know, anything. And it’s all everybody else is dictating, puppet master over the top of your life. Then you just get to a point where it’s like, you have to take some control by yourself.”

He added, “And until I started to do that with my life, then I was living for everybody else. And I’m a complete people-pleaser anyway. So it was like nothing in my life was about serving myself, which then that just led me in a bad place and finding enjoyment from other stuff that I don’t need.”