Liam Payne’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, has said that “sometimes it’s hard for me to get out of bed”, following the death of her former partner.
The One Direction star died in October last year at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
Cassidy appeared on Lorraine Kelly’s ITV talk show to support the programme’s March4March mental health campaign.
She told the Lorraine talk show that Payne “was so open about his mental health” and she is supporting the awareness campaign as “he no longer can help people”.
“I genuinely believe Liam, in a way, guided me to this campaign and wanted me to be involved in this, and to help other people,” she said.
She added: “I’m going through this healing journey, sometimes it’s hard for me to get out of bed in the morning and something I don’t want to do.
“But I have this responsibility and this obligation that I am almost in a way … I have no choice. I have to get out of bed (for my dog) Nala and whether it’s a five-minute walk or 20-minute walk first thing in the morning.
“Either way, it just wakes me up and refreshes my mind instead of laying in bed all day just scrolling through social media or old photos, it gets me out of bed and really, really helps my mindset and my mental health.”
Becoming emotional, Cassidy said she is “still working on accepting the fact that he’s not here any more”.
“It’s hard for me to refer to him in the past tense, and when I do refer to him in the past tense it almost stings that little bit more because … it just … it’s more official.”
Cassidy also said she has her “harder days, but I’m surrounded by such a great support system that I cannot thank enough”.
She also called Payne “one of a kind”, who would “light up any room he walked into”.
Cassidy added that “he had this sense of humour, where he really could make anything better, and his presence was comforting and warming, and that’s something that I’ll never forget about with him, ever”.
She also said that she wants to help people “feel less alone and get through grief and healing”.
Cassidy said the number four in the campaign also attracted her to supporting it, as “it’s me and Liam’s angel numbers”, which “symbolise support and guidance from your angels”.
“It’s still so special, I see it so often, and it’s going to be something that is going to be involved in my life forever, and just every time I see them … I know he’s there with me,” she said.
She had been staying with Payne in Argentina but flew back to America before the fatal incident.
On Saturday night, Payne was remembered at the Brit Awards. One Direction won seven gongs at the Brits in total before his band split up.
Payne’s family said on Sunday they will “forever remember the joy that his music brought to the world” and called for privacy from the “constant media attention and speculation” on Payne’s death.
Last month, a court in Argentina dropped charges of criminal negligence against three out of the five people who had been charged in connection with the performer’s death.
Cassidy, who had been romantically linked to Payne since 2022, has previously said on Instagram that Payne sent her a note saying that he planned for them to get engaged.
She joined Payne’s family and One Direction bandmates last year at his private funeral in Buckinghamshire.
Payne previously spoke about his mental health, and struggles with alcoholism at the peak of his success with One Direction, describing to The Diary Of A CEO podcast how he hit “rock bottom”.
He admitted his addiction to alcohol continued during the Covid pandemic, but in 2023 he posted a YouTube video confirming he was almost six months sober after nearly 100 days in a US rehab facility.
Payne spoke in 2021 to Ant Middleton’s Straight Talking programme about going through a mental health crisis, saying he was “quite lucky to be here still”.
