Liam Payne’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, left Argentina to return to the United States two days before his sudden death.
“Soooo happpiii to b back in sunshine state,” the 25-year-old influencer captioned a TikTok video on Monday, October 14. Text placed over her video revealed that Cassidy was traveling back to Florida.
“I was so ready to leave,” Cassidy could be heard saying in her voiceover. “Honestly, loved South America but I hate staying in one place for too long. And we were supposed to be there for, like, five days, turned into two weeks.”
Cassidy noted that her seat number was “1D” — a reference to One Direction, the band which Payne was a part of until their 2015 hiatus. Payne was in the band alongside Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.
Cassidy also referenced her boyfriend in the TikTok video.
@kateecass soooo happpiii to b back in sunshine state
♬ original sound – nicole
“I bought this neck pillow because I usually bring Squishmellows on the plane, but I gave it to Liam,” she continued, noting that she was eating steak on the plane and watching Zendaya’s Challengers during her travels.
Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday, October 16, that Payne died at age 31 following a fall from his hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires. The city’s emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti revealed that the singer suffered “serious injuries” leading to his sudden passing.
“Our role was to head there quickly, give medical attention, and try to resuscitate him, but his injuries were incompatible with life,” Crescenti said, per La Nacion. “Based on what the team saw, there was apparently a cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death.”
He added: “The team could do absolutely nothing. There was no resuscitation because it was confirmed that he had died.”
A complete autopsy has yet to be performed.
Prior to his death, Payne and Cassidy were enjoying “quality time” in Buenos Aires. The “Strip That Down” singer showed off their relationship in a series of social media photos, shared via Snapchat. Earlier this month, they went to one of Horan’s concerts in Argentina.
Payne and Cassidy had been dating for two years prior to his sudden death. The couple was first linked in October 2022 after they were photographed attending a Halloween party. Two months later, they made things public while attending the British Fashion Awards. The pair shared a ton of photos of each other on social media.
Us confirmed in May 2023 that they had split, but the pair seemingly reconciled a month later when they were spotted out holding hands.
Cassidy has not yet publicly reacted to news of Payne’s death.
