Kate Cassidy honored late boyfriend, Liam Payne, on the first anniversary of the former One Direction star’s death.
“Today marks a full year without you here. I will forever hate goodbyes. I miss you Liam,” Cassidy, 26, captioned her Thursday, October 16, Instagram tribute.
The model accompanied the message with a black-and-white photo of herself lying on Liam in bed, as he wrapped his arms around her while kissing her cheek.
Friends and fans poured out their love to Cassidy in the comments section of the post.
“He is always with you Kate [red heart emoji] love you always,” one person commented, while a second person added, “[What] a sweet pic! Sending you love and hugs. He must be proud of you from up there.”
Cassidy shared a second selfie via Instagram Stories of the former couple lying in the snow and smiling widely for their photo, with her arms wrapped around Payne.
Cassidy was with Payne days before his October 16, 2024, death while on vacation in Argentina. The X Factor alum passed away at age 31 after falling from a third-story balcony in a Buenos Aires hotel.
The influencer recently opened up about how she coped with Payne’s death, revealing that she fell into depression and was “not wanting to really live [her] life.”
“I finally realized, ‘OK, like I need to live my life, I need to get up, get out of bed,’” she told Page Six at a benefit for The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in October. “I like to always be up early, have a workout class planned, go for a nice walk, eat cleaner. I feel like, for me, being active always keeps my mind so much cleaner and healthier.”
Cassidy reflected on her relationship with Payne in June, while in shock that it had been eight months since he passed at the time.
“Knowing I can’t just come home and see you, hear your voice, or feel your hug, it’s a type of pain I can’t fully put into words,” she wrote at the time. “I can’t seem to tell if life is flying by without you or moving so slow none of it fully makes sense. But I am trying to live my life as best I can for now and live it for you. I miss you more than words can say.”
‘We love you Liam’ – home city remembers a year on
Rachael Lewis – in Wolverhampton and Andrew Dawkins – West Midlands
Fans have been paying tribute to the singer Liam Payne in his home city of Wolverhampton a year after his death.
“We love you, Liam”, “I hope you are in a better place” and “You will always be remembered” were among the messages left in bouquets, cards and posters around the bandstand in West Park in the city.
The One Direction star died aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires in Argentina.
The death of Payne, who was born in Bushbury in the city, sparked vigils across the world.
He helped bring joy to the lives of hundreds of terminally ill children, Rays of Sunshine, a charity that worked closely with him, has said.
Payne left behind money, property and possessions worth more than £24m when he died on 16 October last year, official records show.
Sarah McRobb, from Australia, who lives in Manchester, was among the fans who gathered at the bandstand.
The 30-year-old said she added some of her favourite quotes to her written tribute, which included “just random things from all different videos and just the funny moments that kind of showed the kind of person he was”.
“I just really want people to come and see this and just remember,” she added.
“Coming here, it feels like [the] closest place to be connected to Liam in a way, and everybody kind of comes here.
“For his birthday this whole thing was transformed all the way round, and we’re expecting more tributes to come in.”
Ms McRobb said the singer had been kind and was a “great role model”.
“I think the world would just be a lot better place if he was still in it.”
John Carpenter, who was at secondary school with Payne, told how he watched his friend’s rise to fame, describing it as “incredible”.
He said after Payne went on the ITV show X Factor and became part of One Direction that, “We had a good feeling about it that he was going to go all the way.”
Mr Carpenter said he would remember his friend as “a really loyal friend who would always encourage and always build you up – and he would want you to be the best person that you could be”.
He said he planned to remember his friend on the anniversary by doing something they had both enjoyed, adding: “Tonight, I might actually go on a run – that’s what myself and Liam used to do a lot.”
A court in Argentina dropped charges in February of criminal negligence against three out of five people who had been charged in connection with the singer’s death.
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