In October last year, a tragic incident occurred when 31-year-old Liam Payne fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires and died.
Since then, his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, has remained out of the public eye. However, in an exclusive interview with The Sun, she spoke to Clemmie Moodie about her last days with Liam and explained why she left the country just days before his death.
When asked about Kate’s demeanour during her first interview, Clemmie told This Morning’s Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley: “She was shy, she was very image conscious, which I think is normal for someone who is 25 years old and has grown up on camera.
“That generation, that is their life. I got the impression that she was lovely, she was very sweet, she was very nervous. She didn’t want to upset anyone or offend anyone. But, at the same time, she was so scared to get something wrong, and that was sad to see.”
Clemmie noted how grief can affect people in strange ways, and discussed how Kate had lost her partner at such a young age.
She told Ben and Cat that it was a difficult interview to conduct. When asked why Kate wanted to do the interview, Clemmie revealed that her team initially approached her in December, reports the Mirror.
She added: “For me, I think she wanted to pay tribute to Liam, to share and revel in their love and their joy and their love story.”
Addressing the inaccuracies that have been circulated since his death, Clemmie told the ITV hosts that Kate wanted to set the record straight. Cat asked: “Do you think she regrets leaving? How do you think she’s coping?”
The journalist disclosed that that was the toughest question she had to pose to Kate during their interview. Ben shared with viewers watching that Liam and Kate were in Argentina together, and then Kate returned to America, four days before Liam’s untimely death.
Clemmie relayed Kate’s words, commenting: “She said, ‘We were in such a great place, we were really happy; I had no indication that his mental health was wobbling.'”
It was clarified by Clemmie that Kate’s departure from the country was due to the need to care for their dog, not because of any dispute between them.
Ben highlighted the plans for the future they had made, mentioning how Kate spoke about Liam never coming back to the home they had acquired.
Clemmie recounted the emotional response from Kate when discussing these plans with Ben and Cat. She added: “Little things she said off the cuff, those were real moments of reflection and sincerity. That was really heartbreaking. She had her life mapped out.
“She met him when she had just graduated from college in America, so she hadn’t really started looking for work. She thought she was going to be a full-time influencer, travelling the world with her boyfriend and husband. They were going to have kids, and at 25, that’s all gone. It must be terrifying.”
When Cat asked about the times where Kate became most emotional, Clemmie revealed it was when talking about their dog, reminiscing over their favourite holiday in Lapland, and during unguarded moments of thought.
This Morning continues weekdays on ITV from 10am.