Liam Payne's Girlfriend Sparks Fan Fury After Teasing New TV Role on 'The Bachelorette' — 17 Months After One Direction Star's Death
Kate Cassidy has teased a future appearance on reality dating show The Bachelorette, 17 months after Liam Payne's death.
March 24 2026, Published 2:45 p.m. ET
Liam Payne's girlfriend Kate Cassidy is eying up a role on dating show The Bachelorette, 17 months after the One Direction star’s death.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the influencer, 26, made a plea to show chiefs via her TikTok page, teasing she’s ready to start dating again following Payne's tragic passing.
'Hi ABC'
Kate Cassidy made the plea during a TikTok video.
During a video, she tagged ABC, the network responsible for The Bachelorette, and asked to be chosen for the show. Cassidy danced for the camera wearing sunglasses and wrote: "Heard they're looking for a new Bachelorette.... hi."
She captioned the post: "hi abc."
However, her dating show plans didn't go down well with all of her followers.
Responding in the comments section, one user wrote: "I just feel bad for Liam to be honest," while another commented: "It would definitely be canceled as nobody would watch her on it."
Cassidy's plea triggered a mixed response.
The Bachelorette was canceled after a horrifying video of new contestant Taylor Frankie Paul attacking her ex, Dakota Mortensen, surfaced for the first time.
Disney Entertainment Television said last week, "In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family."
But if the series resumes, plenty of Cassidy's fans believe she would be a great fit.
One wrote, "I'd watch for the first time if you were on it," while another added, "I'd definitely watch this season."
A third chimed in: "Where do I sign to make this happen?"
Kate Cassidy Sparks Dating Rumors
Cassidy twirled around with a mystery man on TikTok.
Her reality show plea comes after Cassidy hinted she is ready to find love again as she jumped into the arms of a mystery man in a TikTok video last week.
She looked happy as she twirled around in the mystery man's arms, prompting fans to comment she "deserves to feel love again."
The influencer walked down a street with the hunk as she was scooped up into his arms and twirled around.
Cassidy, who cut a low-key figure in a pair of low-rise jeans and a crop top, threw her head back, beaming, and added Olivia Newton-John's hit song Hopelessly Devoted To You over the video.
The influencer says any future partner will be made aware she will always love tragic Payne.
'I Will Always Love Liam'
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However, Cassidy tagged her male friend Michael in the caption, prompting some fans to point out he is her sister Amy's friend.
They wrote: "I think he’s a friend; y'all, it's her sister's friend omg! That's her sister's friend."
Last year, Cassidy broke down in tears and said that her future boyfriends would have to accept that she’ll "always love" Liam.
She shared an update as she hit back at an online troll who said that they wished he would stop talking about the late singer and move on.
The pair had been together for two years before he passed away, with Cassidy documenting her journey with grief on social media.
In a TikTok video, she said: "I want to make something clear. Whoever I end up with in my future will have to accept the fact I will always love Liam.
Cassidy says she will 'aways cry about Liam.'
"I will always talk about Liam, I will always laugh about Liam, I will always cry about Liam."
Cassidy continued: "Let me tell you something, Liam Payne was my boyfriend. He wasn’t just this famous figure to me.
"It hurts so bad because I am just criticized all the time for speaking about my boyfriend that passed away, the person that I loved and still do love. I would never settle for anyone in this lifetime who did not feel comfortable enough with me speaking about Liam.
"Liam was a very big part of my life. He was my best friend, somebody I really thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with, and, obviously, I know one day I'm going to have to move on. I want to get married one day. I want to have kids."
She concluded: "When a person dies, they die twice, once when they actually die and the second time when you stop speaking about them. I'm not going to have Liam die twice on me. I will love him forever."
