‘Amazing Race’ finale: How did Raleigh’s Holdernesses finish the season? Find out here
After traveling to seven countries and 17 cities, and enduring a 19-month pause in filming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Raleigh internet personalities Kim and Penn Holderness wrapped up their journey on Season 33 of “The Amazing Race” with a big win.
Finishing the season as the most consistent team throughout the race — winning more legs than any other team — the couple walked away with a $1 million prize.
The Holdernesses aren’t the race’s first winners from Raleigh. They join fellow Season 22 winners, brothers and professional hockey players, Bates and Anthony Battaglia, in the ranks of race winners.
In a season unlike any other in the history of the long-running show, the Holdernesses and 10 other teams of two began competing for the $1 million grand prize back in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Wednesday night’s finale had the action down to just four teams.
Fresh off last week’s non-elimination leg in Thessaloniki, Greece, in tonight’s two-hour season finale, the teams traveled to Portugal and Los Angeles in the last legs of the race.
Here’s our blow-by-blow recap of how the final show unfolded.
Kicking off the leg in Portugal
The final four teams kicked of the penultimate leg of the race traveling by plane from Greece to Lisbon, Portugal.
As the winners of last week’s leg, Raquel and Cayla earned the right to leave ahead of all of the other groups. They were followed by a second group consisting of Kim and Penn and Arun and Natalia. Ryan and Dusty left last.
The teams’ first clue told them to drive to Forte de São Filipe in Setúbal, where they would spot their next clue — for one of two roadblock challenges in the leg — in the port city below.
Since only one team member can complete roadblock challenges, the clue instructed the racers to “choose wisely” which team member they elected for the first one.
Kim and Penn arrived to the fort in 1st place, easily spotting the next clue, located at a flag by the port, and setting up a plan for how to get there.
They were followed by Raquel and Cayla, then Ryan and Dusty and Arun and Natalia.
Kim and Penn maintained their lead, finding the flag and the first roadblock challenge still in 1st place. They were followed by Raquel and Cayla, then Arun and Natalia. Ryan and Dusty arrived last.
Challenge 1: Roadblock #1, exploring by row boat
Kim and Penn elected Kim for the first roadblock, in which racers had to correctly choose from various row boats, one with the name of a famous Portuguese explorer.
Kim said she didn’t recognize the names, but took a guess, and she also struggled initially to row the boat. But her guess ended up being correct, and her rowing skills didn’t hold her back, allowing the duo to leave the roadblock still in the lead.
Raquel and Cayla left the challenge in 2nd, followed by Ryan and Dusty. Arun and Natalia left in last after struggling to row the boat and picking an incorrect explorer on their first try.
After finishing the rowing challenge, the teams opened a new clue instructing them to travel to Mercearia Confiança de Troino.
Challenge 2: Painting sardine cans
Once the teams arrived to Mercearia Confiança de Troino, they each selected a can of sardines with a designed label on the front. The racers then had to replicate the design in a painting on a door.
Kim and Penn said they thought they picked a “hard one,” while Raquel and Cayla, who arrived in 2nd, and Ryan and Dusty, who arrived in 3rd, tried from the beginning to pick an easy design.
Kim and Penn finished their door first, but had to go back and fix some errors before getting signed off by the challenge’s judge. After three checks by the judge, they left in 2nd place, behind Raquel and Cayla, who only had to redo their design once — but who ended up leaving their map behind at the challenge, and had to stop along the way to the next clue to buy another.
Ryan and Dusty finished their door in 3rd place, followed by Arun and Natalia.
After finishing their doors, the racers opened clues telling them to travel to Santuário do Cabo Espichel to find their next clue.
Kim and Penn, who didn’t run into map issues, found the next clue, which held the leg’s second roadblock challenge, in 1st place.
Challenge 3: Roadblock #2, counting columns
This leg’s second roadblock required racers to stand in a designated area and count 106 columns around a historic church, then run what Penn said was “about a quarter of a mile” to a monk and report their final count.
Kim and Penn arrived to the church first, followed by Raquel and Cayla, who only made one attempt on the counting and left in 1st place. Penn made several attempts, and the Holdernesses eventually left in 2nd place.
After finishing the counting challenge, teams traveled to the Portugal leg’s pit stop at a lighthouse on the cape.
Kim and Penn and Raquel and Cayla were neck-and-neck on the way to the lighthouse, but Raquel and Cayla ended up in 1st place at this pit stop. Kim and Penn came in 2nd, allowing them to advance to the final leg.
Ryan and Dusty came in 3rd, while Arun and Natalia finished last and were eliminated from the race.
Kicking off the next leg in Los Angeles
After the leg in Portugal, the final three teams traveled by plane to Los Angeles, back in the U.S.
On top of the The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, they opened their first clue to kick off the final leg, which instructed them to travel to one of four towers on the hotel and open a locked clue box using a combination found on an exterior elevator.
Raquel and Cayla unlocked their box first, and found a clue that told them to travel to El Pueblo de Los Angeles, a historical monument.
Kim and Penn opened their box next, leaving in 2nd place. Ryan and Dusty left last after struggling to find the combination to open their clue box.
Kim and Penn arrived to the next clue first, followed very closely by Raquel and Cayla.
Challenge 4: Smashing piñatas
The teams’ next challenge required one team member to don a blindfold and smash piñatas, based on directions from their partner. The piñatas held pieces of the teams’ next clue.
Raquel and Cayla finished smashing their piñatas first, followed by Kim and Penn, who struggled to find the “tiny donkey” that they had to smash. Ryan and Dusty left last, arriving to the challenge after the other two teams had already left.
The next clue instructed teams to travel to SIR Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard, where they were to complete their next challenge.
Challenge 5: Foley artists
The next challenge at SIR required teams to become foley artists, adding sound effects in perfect sync to five of the most iconic moments from previous “Amazing Race” seasons.
Raquel and Cayla arrived to SIR first, followed by Kim and Penn.
Kim said she was “fascinated by foley” and followed some TikTok accounts about it, giving the duo confidence heading into the challenge. Plus, we have to think that the duo’s years of experience in video editing had to help, too.
Raquel and Cayla made several attempts before leaving in 1st place.
After Penn talked during the first one, the Holdernesses ended up making several attempts before leaving in 2nd place.
After completing the foley challenge, the teams had to travel to Dignity Health Sports Park, home of the LA Galaxy soccer team, to find their next clue.
Challenge 6: ‘Giant memory quiz’ & a winner is crowned
The teams’ last challenge of the race was a “giant memory quiz” requiring them to solve riddles based on challenges they had completed earlier in the race.
Raquel and Cayla arrived to the challenge first, followed by Kim and Penn, and both teams were locked in a neck-and-neck race as they matched the images to the phrases.
But it was Kim and Penn who came out on top, finishing in 1st place and winning the race, along with $1 million, as they ran through a tunnel at the sports park to the final pit stop of the race to see the other teams who had previously been eliminated earlier in the race.
Raquel and Cayla finished in 2nd place, followed by Ryan and Dusty.
Kim & Penn reflect on their win
At the finish line, Kim and Penn once again talked about their kids, who they cited as their main inspiration throughout the race.
Talking with host Phil Keoghan at the finish, they both said they hoped their kids were proud of them, and that it proves to them that “studying pays off.”
The duo said previously in the race that they hoped to use the $1 million prize to fund their kids’ college tuition costs.
“I hope what our kids saw is that it didn’t matter where we were gonna finish, we were gonna work as hard as we could, and that the finish doesn’t really matter,” Penn said. “Even though we finished first, which is kind of awesome.”
The duo also talked about how the race took them out of their comfort zones, something that Kim said her battles with anxiety had kept her from before.
“With all of that, you just won ‘The Amazing Race,’” Penn told Kim as the episode concluded. “And you are the hero.”
More about Kim & Penn Holderness
Most people recognize Kim and Penn from their online videos posted on “The Holderness Family” accounts — most notably “Christmas Jammies,” which went viral in 2013 and has more than 18 million views to-date.
Prior to making the switch to full-time content creation, Kim and Penn both worked in TV news. They have a combined 25 years of experience in the industry, including Penn’s six years as an evening anchor at WNCN/CBS 17 in Raleigh.
Following the success of “Jammies,” the Raleigh couple, along with their two children, now “chronicle their marriage and their family with funny music videos, vlogs, skits and a podcast.” The couple also released a book in March 2021.
Previous ‘Amazing Race’ recaps
Catch up on all of our previous coverage of Kim and Penn and their journey on “The Amazing Race” with these stories:
▪ Raleigh’s Holderness Family of ‘Christmas Jammies’ fame to compete on ‘The Amazing Race’
▪ Week 2 recap: Glasgow, Scotland
▪ Week 4 recap: Switzerland, part two
▪ Week 5 recap: Corsica, France
▪ Week 6 recap: Corsica, France, part two
▪ Week 7 recap: Halkidiki, Greece
▪ Week 8 recap: Thessaloniki, Greece
▪ Raleigh’s Holdernesses talk about ‘Amazing Race’ journey and this week’s finale
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 9:00 PM with the headline "‘Amazing Race’ finale: How did Raleigh’s Holdernesses finish the season? Find out here."
