Liam Payne’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, is opening up about her final moments with the late One Direction singer in her emotional first interview since his death on Oct. 16, 2024, at age 31.

The influencer, 25, told The Sun in a new interview published Wednesday, Feb. 5 that she wishes she had stayed with Payne in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they were vacationing together, instead of returning to their home in Florida to care for their rescue dog Nala. Not long after, Payne died after falling from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel.

Liam Payne and Katie Cassidy pose on the red carpet upon arrival at The 2022 Fashion Awards in London on December 5, 2022. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Cassidy, who had been with Payne for two years before his tragic death, revealed that her final text message with her late love had been to tell him she had put up their Halloween decorations at home, writing, “I can’t wait for you to get home and see the house.”

Calling Payne’s death a “tragic accident,” Cassidy said she “never thought” the trip would “turn out the way it did.” She confessed, “It still doesn’t feel fully real for me that he’s not here. I’m trying to be the best I can be, but I feel like my life has changed so much,” adding, “I think about Liam every second of every day.”

“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,” Cassidy continued of her late beau, calling it “really hard” to know that he will no longer “be there with me to navigate through this life” and that she would “have to deal with this without him by my side.”

Cassidy took to her Instagram Story Wednesday after the interview had been published, explaining that nearly four months after the “Strip That Down” artist had passed, she wanted to “share an insight into the relationship with the love of my life” with the thousands of people who had asked her to speak.
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“This is my first ever interview while I navigate the pain of losing Liam, so please bear with me as I share my experience, which I hope will be received with compassion and understanding,” she wrote.

Payne’s cause of death was ruled as multiple traumatic injuries with internal and external hemorrhaging consistent with the fall. An investigation has been launched due to a toxicology report that showed drugs in his system at the time of his death, and Argentinian authorities have charged five people in connection with the incident.