Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy has spoken about the heart-breaking moment when she heard the tragic news that her boyfriend died. The One Direction singer died on 16th October after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.

Kate was in the house she shared with Liam in Flordia, with their dog Nala. She had been with Liam on holiday in Argentina and went to Niall Horan’s concert with him. She’d left Buenos Aires a few days ago to check on Nala. The last text she sent him was about decorating their house.

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.”

After hearing the news, Kate Cassidy then got in touch with Liam Payne’s family. His mother, Karen Payne, got on a plane to Florida so she could support Kate.

She said: “I called pretty much everybody. Then I was in touch with his family, and my mum got the first flight out to be with me. I remember pacing around the house — poor Nala thought I was trying to play, she kept jumping up at me. I didn’t sleep at all that night.”

Kate struggled to sleep for days after hearing the news. She would ring Liam’s voicemail to hear his voice, and play his music while she was trying to sleep. The news of Liam’s death really hit her three days later, when a handyman she’d paid to put up Halloween lights asked her whether her boyfriend liked the decorations.