Kate Cassidy has reflected on her final moments with boyfriend Liam Payne while marking two years since his death. The One Direction pop star died on October 16, 2024, after falling from the balcony of CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, leaving behind his son, Bear, whom he shares with Cheryl.
Influencer Cassidy had been dating Payne for around two years and was with him in South America in the days before his fatal fall, having attended bandmate Niall Horan’s concert. Cassidy returned to her home in Florida to care for their dog, Nala, on October 14, unaware she had already seen her partner for the last time.
Final moments shared
Taking to Instagram today, the social media personality shared a series of personal snaps and videos to commemorate the heartbreaking anniversary. In one clip, Payne poses playfully with his arms out beneath a rainbow, captioned: ‘I love you forever & always’.
A second video captioned ‘2 years ❤️’ shows Payne and Cassidy fooling around in a field, laughing as he lifts her into the air. She added the text: ‘Treasure every moment with the people you love. ‘Forever grateful this was our last hour, our last video, our last moment together. ‘Until the next life. I’ll see you again one day.’
Memories and fan reactions
On her Insta Story, Cassidy marked more relationship milestones, posting a sweet pic from their first holiday in Turkey and a selfie from their hotel room in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in view behind them. Cassidy also posted a previously unseen photo of a dapper-looking Payne wearing a black coat, along with which she penned: ‘2 years gone without you here but an eternity of memories’. ‘My handsome boy I love you!!!’, she added.
Fans flooded her comments with sweet messages on what is likely to have been a tearful day, with @sunflowerjvlia writing: ‘All of us missing Liam. He was really loved by a lot of people and I’m so grateful for that🩷’ ‘Thank you for keeping him alive through your memories, I will always send you lots of strength, Kate🤍🫂’, commented @cherry__.moon._. @_laura.llina added: ‘every day he watches u and he always proud of u🩵 miss u dearest liam’.
Grief and moving forward
Cassidy often posts about her grief journey and speaks fondly about her relationship with the boyband icon. In February 2025, she gave her first interview to The Sun, expressing how their romance was a ‘fairytale’ and she was there for Payne, who was open about his mental health and addiction struggles, through ‘thick and thin’. She also addressed the backlash and cruel online trolling ‘blaming’ her for what happened.
‘Love is so optimistic, and you just hope that everything will work out at the end,’ Cassidy said. ‘Obviously, if I knew, if I could see into the future, I would never have left Argentina.’ Admitting that it still didn’t ‘feel real’ that he had died, she said ‘never, ever thought’ such a ‘tragic accident’ would occur.
‘From the moment I met Liam, I genuinely believed we were soulmates; 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,’ she reflected. ‘That he won’t be there with me to navigate through this life, that I’ll have to deal with this without him by my side… It’s really hard. ‘You don’t think about the worst possible thing that can happen.’
Cassidy had previously revealed that she and Payne were planning on marrying. A week after he died, in her first tribute, Cassidy posted a handwritten note he left her. It read: ‘Me and Kate to marry within a year/engaged & 2gether 4ever 444’. He penned the message a few weeks before he died, as the couple mapped out their future together, adding ‘444’ because it held significance in their relationship as an ‘angel number’, which Cassidy later got tattooed.
Cassidy has posted TikToks about returning to the dating scene in recent months, with fans believing she may have found a new boyfriend who looks strikingly like Payne. Hinting at a blossoming romance, she shared a video of herself making ice cream with a mystery brunette man with a quiff and feeding each other desserts. In the comments, fans couldn’t help but point out the noticeable similarities between her date and Payne.
Brittney Pena said: ‘I genuinely thought this was an old video of her and Liam for a moment 😔’ ‘I literally had to do a double take of the date because I thought that was Liam’, Falling Star wrote, while Salma pointed out that he ‘even sounds like him a bit’. In June, Cassidy spoke candidly about being ‘dumped’ by a new boyfriend because she kept comparing him to Payne.
Payne, who rose to fame alongside Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, ultimately died from multiple traumatic injuries, internal and external bleeding, and fatal head trauma. An autopsy found he had alcohol, cocaine, and prescription antidepressants in his system at the time. Subsequent evaluations ruled out the possibility of suicide, as Payne would have been severely impaired when he fell. Prosecutors initially charged five individuals in connection with Payne’s death, including hotel workers accused of supplying narcotics and another charged with abandonment followed by death. Early last year, prosecutors dropped criminal negligence charges against three defendants.
