Kate Cassidy, Liam Payne's girlfriend at the time of his death, has responded to claims she rehomed the dog they shared after returning home following three weeks away14:12, 14 Jul 2026Kate Cassidy has responded to claims that she rehomed the dog she shared with late boyfriend Liam Payne. The 27-year-old influencer explained that she still lived with the dog, despite being away for three weeks on a girls' trip to Mantauk, New York.‌While she was away from home, some fans thought she must have rehomed Nala, a rescue dog she and One Direction star Payne got before he died, as she had been away so long. But upon her return, Cassidy cleared up the rumours.‌She posted a picture of Nala to her Instagram stories and wrote over the top: "Reunited!!! No, I didn't rehome Nala. You guys are funny. I had a family friend stay at my apartment with her."‌She added: "I'd highly recommend for anyone leaving for a longer period of time to have someone stay in your home with your furry baby!!! Makes them feel less confused and they're still at home."In another post, she shared another pic of Nala, where the dog had a furrowed brow. Cassidy added loads of question marks around the dog's head and wrote: "Nala's reaction to the rehoming rumours."‌Cassidy and Payne were in a relationship when he died in 2024. The singer tragically fell from a balcony whilst staying at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Cassidy has tried dating again in the years since but was recently dumped by a boyfriend after she kept comparing him to Payne. In a TikTok video, she admitted that she "hated" being single again after the breakup. She posted a video of herself where she wrote the words "I hate being single" over the top.In a previous video, she said: "I got dumped you guys," she said. "I have been super MIA on here about my updated dating situation, that is because I recently met someone.‌“I felt like things were moving super fast, if you know me you know I have a tendency of moving fast. Let’s just call this guy Joe. Joe was really sweet and a lot of things I wanted in a guy. He’s super low key so he doesn’t have any social media, which I actually really liked. I met his family, he took me on trips, things were going really well, really quick. But I f***ed up.”Going into more detail, she added that she does "physically look for Liam" in every guy she dates and tends to back away if they don't measure up. As such, she started to compare 'Joe' to Liam and would "get angry" when he wasn't the same.Article continues below“I would physically get like ‘oh well Liam would do this so why aren’t you doing this?’" she admitted. "Or he would do something and I would be like, ‘Liam would never do that’.“He texted me yesterday and told me we should go our separate ways because it’s just too much, and I understand. I feel sad because I don’t like losing people and I feel like especially in the beginning of a situationship it’s so fun and you’re so excited to see where it goes.”Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .