Liam Payne’s shocking death at 31 has put the spotlight on his girlfriend Kate Cassidy.
The influencer, 25, was pictured with the late One Direction singer in his final Snapchat post, which was shared just minutes before his tragic death after falling from his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at around 5pm local time on Wednesday.
Payne and Cassidy had been an inseparable couple for around two years before his story came to a shocking end.
Despite some bumps along the road, the two appear to have been together until Payne’s final moments.
Now DailyMail.com takes a look at Payne’s final girlfriend Kate Cassidy as his song ends on a minor key.
Liam Payne’s shocking death at 31 has put the spotlight on his girlfriend of two years, Kate Cassidy; pictured together in January 2023 in Dubai
DailyMail.com takes a look at the influencer after she was featured in Payne’s final Snapchat post sent out just minutes before he died from a fall at his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday — though the image was a repost of a photo from 2023
She has her own career as an influencer
Cassidy was prepared for the spotlight that her romance with Liam brought thanks to her own career as an influencer and social media star.
Cassidy, who was born in New Jersey, had prepared for a career by attending Coastal Carolina University, which she graduated from in 2021.
She later relocated to London, but the globetrotting beauty regularly treated her 109K Instagram followers to stunning views of her trips across the world.
She has posted herself in sizzling outfits at Italy’s Lake Como, in Milan, Paris, St. Tropez, Rome and Spain, among other glamorous locales.
Last year, the two made a show-stopping appearance together at the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Liam also occasionally joined his girlfriend on her Instagram page, though he was a rare sight.
Her new profile also put her in the orbit of other stars aside from her famous boyfriend, including the model and reality star Kendall Jenner.
Cassidy was prepared for the spotlight that her romance with Liam brought thanks to her own career as an influencer and social media star
Cassidy, who was born in New Jersey, had prepared for a career by attending Coastal Carolina University, which she graduated from in 2021
She later relocated to London and started a career as an influencer. Her 109K Instagram followers got a taste of her trips to Italy’s Lake Como, Milan, Paris, St. Tropez, Rome and Spain, among other glamorous locales
How did she meet Liam?
Cassidy recounted the story of how they met in a video shared less than a month before his death.
In a TikTok video uploaded on September 20, New Jersey native Cassidy recounted how she and Liam met and how their relationship almost never happened at all.
The pair began dating in October 2022 after they met at a bar in Charleston, South Carolina where Kate worked as a waitress at the time.
However, in her video, Kate told her followers how their meeting almost never happened as she had desperately tried to get off work that evening.
She said: ‘I worked at this bar/lounge place called Ritual. Me and all my friends worked there, it was only my second week at work and I didn’t want to work every weekend.
‘They put me on schedule for week two and I really wanted to get off. I tried everything in my power to get off and nothing worked out.
‘On the way to work my manager texted me and was like “Liam Payne from One Direction is here, you’re going to be taking care of him tonight.” ‘
Kate admitted she was ‘freaking out’ when she had to approach Liam’s table and ended up chickening out at first.
She said: ‘When I first approached him, I got nervous and stopped and turned around. I guess we made awkward eye contact for a second.
‘We talk about it because he said to (his friend) Conor, “Oh my God, did you see that girl walking over here? I’m not leaving this bar until I get her number.”
‘Then two minutes later I come back around. He was like, “is there anyway I can get a table inside?” He’s literally sitting inside drinking Red Bulls and I didn’t think anything of it, I just thought he was overly friendly, I didn’t think he was flirting with me.’
Last year, Cassidy and Payne made a show-stopping appearance at Wimbledon in London
She and Liam began their romance in October 2022
The former One Direction member’s death came just around two years after he and Cassidy began their relationship.
DailyMail.com published photos of the two together for the first time.
They appeared to be having a great time for Halloween festivities in which she dressed up for the big night as Pamela Anderson, while Payne showed off a bevy of tattoos in a white tank top to transform into her rocker ex-husband Tommy Lee.
Cassidy made it clear she was ready to go Instagram official with the pop superstar when she also posted a photo of their costume on Instagram.
Payne was moving on with the blond bombshell just six months after the tumultuous end of his engagement to Maya Henry.
Earlier this year, amid Payne’s relationship with Cassidy, Henry reignited their conflicts when she published a novel with thinly veiled characters appearing to stand in for herself and her ex, with his book avatar urging the female lead to get an abortion after she got pregnant.
Then, just two days before his death, Henry sent a cease-and-desist letter to Payne to prevent his alleged attempts to repeatedly contact her. She also accused him of ‘weaponizing’ his fans against her in the missive.
A month after Payne and Cassidy made their public debut, they made it clear that the relationship was serious when he appeared again on her Instagram in a post documenting her trip to Rome.
Although they had been coy about their relationship, two came together for a hug in the post.
Payne and Cassidy were first pictured together on Halloween in photos published by DailyMail.com. They dressed as Pamela Anderson and her ex-husband Tommy Lee
A month after Payne and Cassidy made their public debut, they made it clear that the relationship was serious when he appeared again on her Instagram in a post documenting her trip to Rome
Payne and Cassidy make red-carpet debut in December 2022 — and he defends his love
Two months after they were first linked and went Instagram official, Cassidy and the singing heartthrob celebrated another milestone by going red-carpet official.
They were on Payne’s home turf in London to attend the British Fashion Awards.
He looked stylish in a black suit with peaked lapels and a slim matching tie, and he added a dashing air with some designer stubble over his chiseled jaw.
Cassidy complemented the singer–songwriter with an eye-catching black dress featuring a sky-high slit and diamond-shaped cutouts over her toned midriff.
Her boyfriend showed how crazy he was for her when he commented on her Instagram post from the evening, writing: ‘Who is that lucky lucky dashing young man next to you. nah seriously you look fantastic I coulda just told you that as your on the sofa next to me but you know tech and phones n stuff.’
The red carpet appearance seems to have set off some fans who feared that Cassidy was only interested in Payne for his money after his massive success as part of One Direction.
After receiving a direct message with that sentiment, he reposted it to Instagram while clapping back at the troll.
‘Gotta say you could tell me anything and I couldn’t be turned, I’ve never felt a love like I do for Katelyn. We make each other better people,’ he gushed.
Payne added that if his girlfriend was only interested in his money, he would ‘give her all of it.’
‘It’s not though (please remember I’m hella sexy) and I know I’m fun and a loveable person,’ he added on a lighter note. ‘And I don’t give a f*** to say that for the first time in my life I’m happy to be me and that’s priceless.’
Two months after they were first linked and went Instagram official, Cassidy and the singing heartthrob celebrated another milestone by going red-carpet official at the British Fashion Awards in London in December 2022 (pictured)
After trolls warned Liam that Cassidy was allegedly only after his money, he defended her ‘never felt a love like’ it before
Payne brings Cassidy to premiere of One Direction pal Louis Tomlinson’s documentary
Payne even went so far as to integrate his new love into his life as a former One Direction member.
The boy band member–turned–solo artist posed with the influencer on the red carpet of the UK premiere of the documentary All Of Those Voices.
The film charted the path of Liam’s friend and former colleague Louis Tomlinson, from his days with him as part of One Direction through his early years trying to establish himself as a solo artist.
Cassidy posted a photo of the two in the red-carpet outfits to her Instagram account, adding in her caption: ‘What a crazy eye opening experience!’
She added that it was ‘so nice to meet (Tomlinson) finally.’
Payne even went so far as to integrate his new love into his life as a former One Direction member when they attended the premiere in March 2023 of a documentary about his ex-bandmate Louis Tomlinson
The couple weather break-up rumors
In May of 2023, Payne and Cassidy were reported to have broken up.
Rumors of a split had been swirling after the two hadn’t been pictured together since April.
A source told The Sun at the time that Payne was more focused on his music, and Cassidy had allegedly moved out and gone back home to the US.
But in June, the two were pictured together holding hands, signaling that they were back together.
They were spotted leaving Chiltern Firehouse in London after attending Annabel’s 60th Anniversary Party together.
In May of 2023, Payne and Cassidy were reported to have broken up. A source told The Sun he was focused on his music while she had move out and gone back to the US; seen in February 2023 in London
But in June, the two were pictured together holding hands at Chiltern Firehouse in London after attending Annabel’s 60th Anniversary Party together (pictured)
Together in his final days
Although the nature of Payne’s tragic death from a multi-story fall and what led up to it are not yet known, Cassidy was with him in his final days.
On Snapchat, he appeared to have documented the couple’s trip to Argentina, and in a rush of Snapchat posts just minutes before his death, he noted that the couple had been ‘waking up at 1pm everyday.’
He also posted a somber shot of himself, which he captioned: ‘Lovely day in Argentina ❤️.’
Significantly, Cassidy appeared with Payne in his final post, but the photo was not new.
Instead, it had previously appeared on Kate’s Instagram on August 29, 2023, in a carousel celebrating her boyfriend’s 30th birthday.
It’s still unclear if the throwback photo held special significance for Payne, but it ended up being the final image he shared with his fans before his untimely death.
Although the nature of Payne’s tragic death from a multi-story fall and what led up to it are not yet known, Cassidy appears to have been with him in his final days on a trip to Argentina
In a rush of posts just minutes before his death, he said it was ‘A lovely day in Argentina’ and revealed the two had ‘been waking up at 1pm everyday’ on the trip
His haunting final post was a photo of himself with a bikini-clad Cassidy as they posed for a mirror selfie. But the photo was more than a year old
Cassidy had left the singer in Argentina to return to the US just two days before his death.
Cassidy shared a video on TikTok revealing that she was flying back to her home in Florida after spending two weeks with Payne in Argentina.
She added that she had originally planned to stay in Argentina for ‘five days,’ and she was ‘so ready to leave.’
‘I was just like, I need to go home,’ she said in the video, which documented her flight back to the US.
Kate and Liam flew to Buenos Aires to watch his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert on October 4, and he remained in the country after his girlfriend flew home.
Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy had left the singer in Argentina to return to the US just two days before his death
On Monday, Kate had shared a video on TikTok revealing that she was flying back to her home in Florida after spending two weeks with Liam in Argentina
Kate and Liam originally flew to Buenos Aires to watch his former bandmate Niall Horan ‘s concert on October 4, and he remained in the country after his girlfriend flew home
