Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy has revealed she first learned of his tragic death after getting a phonecall from one of his friends.
The One Direction star died in October last year after falling from a balcony on the third-floor of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he had been on holiday to see his former bandmate Niall Horan perform.
Kate, 25, was with Liam in Argentina but left a day early in order to to look after their rescue dog Nala at their home in Florida, and in her first interview since she’s passing, she’s admitted she ‘didn’t believe it’ when she learned of his death.
She told The Sun: ‘I feel blessed I didn’t find out over social media because I just couldn’t even imagine that. 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?”
‘And I feel like I just completely blacked out. When I officially found the news out to be true, I felt numb. I tried to call him. I called pretty much everybody.’
Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy has revealed she first learned of his tragic death after getting a phonecall from one of his friends
The One Direction star died in October last year after falling from a balcony on the third-floor of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Kate went onto share that she ‘didn’t sleep at all’ the night she learned of Liam’s death, and admitted that his phone ‘rang out’ when she tried to call it.
She later realised that her last text to Liam had been completely ordinary: ‘I can’t wait for you to get home and see the house.’ She had spent time decorating their home for Halloween and was excited to show him.
She said she knew the pair were soulmates from the very first time they met, which was when she was a waitress in South Carolina, but that she had loved him since she was 10-years-old, believing that they were always meant to meet.
Liam delayed his flight home, and the pair spent two days together in a hotel, beginning what she describes as a ‘fairytale romance’.
The devastated girlfriend called the singer the most humble and charming people she had ever met and insisted she was not to blame for the death of her partner.
Kate later left her college plans behind and became a full-time influencer, a career Liam fully supported.
Now with more than 2.5million followers, she has since moved back to New Jersey after leaving the home they shared in Florida.
Liam had spoken openly about his mental health struggles and past battles with addiction. He had tried both therapy and rehab.
Kate shared that she ‘didn’t believe it’ when she was first told about Liam’s death, and desperately tried to call his phone
On the night of his death, his hotel room was littered with drug paraphernalia and an opened champagne bottle.
Kate said his relapse seemed to come ‘out of nowhere’, and she had never imagined he was in such a fragile state.
Still reeling from his death, she has been seeing a grief therapist and struggles to listen to Liam’s music. ‘Maybe one day,’ she said, ‘but not right now.’
Liam was staying at the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires when he fell to his death after a drink-drug binge on October 16.
His medical cause of death has now been announced to be ‘polytrauma’, a term which means a person has multiple traumatic injuries to their body.
Five people have been charged over the singer’s death in Argentina after he fell from a third-floor balcony of the hotel.
The hotel’s manager, a receptionist and a friend of Payne have been charged with manslaughter, Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office previously said in a statement.
They are reported to be hotel manager Gilda Martin, receptionist Esteban Grassi and Payne’s friend Roger Nores. Two other people have been charged over the supply of drugs.
Due to the ongoing investigation, Kate could not divulge too much information and did not confirm whether or not she had spoken to Roger.
She insisted, however, that when she left Argentina, Liam was in ‘such a good headspace’ and the couple were more in love than ever.
