LIAM Payne admitted girlfriend Kate Cassidy made him “happy to be me for the first time” a year before his tragic death.
The One Direction star, who died yesterday following a fall from a hotel balcony in Argentina aged 31, made the declaration after model Katie admitted she manifested her romance with Liam as a 10-year-old.
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She told fans on TikTok: “I am the best manifester, and I’m going to show you why.”
Kate, 25, held up a hand-drawn man attached to a lollipop stick with the name Liam written on it which she crafted as a child.
Liam shared the clip on his own channel and opened up about his feelings for Kate.
He said: “Gotta say you could tell me anything and I couldn’t be turned, I’ve never felt a love like I do for Katelyn. We make each other better people.”
A number of trolls accused Kate of being a gold digger, but Liam swiftly and politely rebutted the cruel claims.
“If it was just for the money I’d give her all of it,” he said.
“It’s not though (please remember I’m hella sexy) and I know I’m fun and a loveable person.
“And I don’t give a f**k to say that for the first time in my life I’m happy to be me and that’s priceless.”
The couple first met in 2022 when Kate was working tables at a bar called Ritual.
When she learned Liam was coming in, she “freaked out” and was nervous to approach him.
But Kate made an instant impression on the singer.
She said: “We talk about it because he said to [his friend] Conor, ‘Oh my God, did you see that girl walking over here? I’m not leaving this bar until I get her number.’
“Every time I came to the table to check up on him, he’d be like ‘sit down!’ I have family in London and I was like, ‘Oh I’m going to London to see my cousin’ and he was like, ‘I’d love to be your tour guide when you come.’ I was like, OK I’m picking up the sense that you’re flirting with me.
“He asked for my number and I didn’t realise you had to put the +1 because I’m from America. I just my area code, the 201 and he tried texting me and it kept going green, not delivered.
It comes as:
“He thought I’d put the wrong number in as in like, not interested. I was freaking out all night and then he realised I forgot to put the +1 and it went through.”
Kate was not around when Liam tragically died as she had left him behind in Argentina where they were holidaying to return to the US.
The couple had travelled to South America earlier this month to watch Liam’s One Direction bandmate Niall Horan perform in the country and, while out there, extended their stay.
After two weeks away, Kate, 25, revealed she was ready to leave and decided to head home.
She explained on TikTok: “Honestly, love 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.
“I was just like, ‘I need to go home’.”
Ahead of her flight to Florida, Kate said she developed a “weird rash” due to her “anxiety” around flying.
However, all went well during the journey which coincidentally saw her seated in ‘1D’.
She added: “I was so happy to be home. It was so relieving.”
Liam tragically plunged from the third floor of a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday afternoon.
The singer-songwriter was staying at Hotel CasaSur in the neighbourhood of Palermo.
Witnesses said Liam smashed his laptop and had to be carried back to his room following an erratic incident earlier in the day, TMZ reports.
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Liam was first linked to Kate in October 2022, before making their first red carpet debut together two months later.
In March 2023, Kate accompanied Liam to the premiere of documentary All of Those Voices, made by his One Direction bandmate Louis Tomlinson.
She shared pictures of herself and X Factor star Liam at the event and told her followers: “What a crazy eye opening experience!”
Liam’s relationship with Kate followed the end of his engagement to model Maya Henry.
The couple ended their romance in June 2021, before reuniting later that year. But they called it quits for good in May 2022.
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