Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy left in tears as she opens up on ‘healing' after his tragic death

Liam Payne's girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, has opened up about the One Direction star's death in an interview on ITV's Lorraine.

Speaking about how she's coping following the tragic loss of Liam, Kate explained she's still struggling to accept 'he's not here any more'.

Liam - who was aged 31 when he passed away - died after falling from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A UK inquest later confirmed that Liam's death was caused by 'polytrauma' - which refers to multiple traumatic injuries.

Cassidy, 25, had been in Argentina with Payne for two weeks before she returned home to Florida to care for their rescue dog, Nala.

"I find myself talking about him so much in the present tense," Kate told Lorraine Kelly.

"I don't even feel the need to correct myself. That's part of my healing journey.

"I'm still working on accepting the fact that he's not here anymore.

"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.

"... Obviously if I knew, if I could see into the future, I would never have left Argentina."

Kate spoke about how she's been coping following Liam's death (Instagram/@kateecass)

Kate explained her family and friends have been helping her to cope since Liam passed.

"I am trying to do my best. I have my better days, my harder days but I am surrounded by such a great support system and that has helped me so much with my healing journey, all my friends and family being supportive and helping me be productive," she said.

"Doing small things like yoga, going for a long walk, anything like that."

Kate was chatting to Lorraine as part of the show's March4March campaign, encouraging to get people moving for their mental health.