Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy jumps into the arms of a mystery man as fans say ‘you deserve to feel love again’ 17 months on from star’s death

Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy jumped into the arms of a mystery man in a sweet TikTok video on Tuesday, 17 months after the star’s death.

One Direction star Liam died in October 2024, aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was found to have alcohol and cocaine in his system.

Now Kate, 26, looked happier than ever as she turned around in the mystery man’s arms, with fans commenting that she “deserves to feel love again.”

The American influencer, who dated singer Liam for two years until his shock death, walked down the street with the hunk in Liam’s arms and twirling around.

Showing a simple figure in low-waist jeans and a crop top, Kate threw her head back with joy and added Olivia Newton-John’s hit song Hopeously Devoted To You over the video.

Fans responded to comments saying they were “so happy” for Kate and that she “deserves to find love” again.

One Direction star Liam died in October 2024, aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was found to have alcohol and cocaine in his system.

They wrote: SO HAPPY FOR YOU KATEEE; We are so happy for you Kate! We love you!; You deserve to be happy, girl!; I love this for you Kate Liam cheering for you;

‘I’m so happy for you Kate and I know Liam is too; How happy are you my daughter, you deserve happiness; Our daughter is recovering; As long as he makes you happy and treats you well, my queen;

‘I’m so happy for you, girl! You deserve joy and love!; You deserve this smile baby; I am so happy to see him happy; We want you to be happy’.

However, Kate tagged her boyfriend Michael in the caption, causing some fans to point out that he was her sister Amy’s friend.

They wrote: ‘I think he’s a friend; you are all his sister’s friends oh my god!!!!; This is his sister’s friend.

Last year Kate broke down in tears and said future boyfriends needed to accept that she would ‘always love’ Liam.

The influencer shared an update as she hit back at an online troll who said she wished she would stop talking about the late singer and move on.

The couple had been together for two years before he passed away, and Kate had been documenting her painful journey on social media.

In a TikTok video, Kate said: ‘I want to make something clear. He will have to accept the fact that no matter who I end up with in my future, I will always love Liam.

‘I’ll always talk about Liam, I’ll always laugh about Liam, I’ll always cry about Liam.’

Now, Kate, 26, looked happier than ever as she twirled around in the mystery man’s arms, with fans commenting that she “deserves to feel love again.”

Fans responded to comments saying they were “so happy” for Kate and that she “deserves to find love” again

However, Kate tagged her boyfriend Michael in the caption, causing some fans to point out that he was her sister Amy’s friend.

Kate continued: ‘Let me tell you something, Liam Payne was my boyfriend. He wasn’t just this famous figure to me.

‘It hurts so much because I’m constantly criticized for talking about my dead boyfriend, the person I loved and still love. I will never settle for anyone in this lifetime who doesn’t feel comfortable enough talking about Liam.

‘Liam was a huge part of my life. He was my best friend, someone I truly thought I would spend the rest of my life with, and quite frankly I know that one day I will have to move on. I want to get married one day. I want to have children.

‘When a man dies, he dies twice; when one actually dies and the second stops talking about it. I won’t let Liam die twice because of me. I will love him forever.’

It comes after Kate fell victim to a cruel hoax when it was revealed that an anonymous troll had sent her flowers with a wild note attached.

The influencer shared on Instagram last week that a bouquet of flowers was unexpectedly delivered to her home.

However, despite her excitement at the surprise gift, Kate’s joy soon turned into pain as she read the note attached to the flowers.

The cruel note read: ‘Happy early birthday! Botox and TikTok filters work harder than the rest of us x. TikTok user.’

Sharing the video, Kate wrote: ‘Ppeople are very cruel. I was in the middle of shooting TikTokI was in my kitchen when I got this call and thought it would be a nice moment to film. Turns out it wasn’t.’

At the beginning of the clip, Kate was smiling as she told the camera: ‘I just received a call from my front desk saying there was a flower delivery here. I actually have no idea who these will be from and I’m a little nervous.

‘Oh my God, I love getting flowers. ‘Now we are patiently waiting for someone to knock on the door.’

Hearing her dog wake up, Kate told the camera: ‘I can feel he’s here because Nala’s just woken up.’

Kate walked towards the door to collect the flowers and then excitedly ran towards the kitchen island to check who the flowers were from.

But Kate threw the bouquet in the bin after reading the cruel note.

‘Okay, these flowers need to go straight into the trash,’ he said to the camera.

He added: ‘I’m really shaking and very angry. Like the person who actually spends the money and takes the time to literally go out of their way to hurt someone’s feelings.

‘Like, who’s actually doing this? I’m so sick and tired of this.’

Last month, Kate shared a sweet tribute to Liam in an Instagram post as she wished her ‘best friend a happy Valentine’s Day’.

Kate celebrated her second Valentine’s Day without Liam by sharing a sweet Polaroid photo of the pair enjoying a night out together on Instagram.

Alongside the post, the blonde wrote: ‘Happy Valentine’s Day to my best friend from afar.’