Penn and Kim Holderness on Turning Mental Health Struggle into 'Superpower' to Win Amazing Race (2024)

Penn and Kim Holderness have crossed the finish line!

Making history as the oldest team to ever win The Amazing Race, the internet personalities conquered more than just leg obstacles, roadblocks, and filming during a pandemic — they overcame mental health challenges along the way.

Following Wednesday night's season 33 finale, Kim, 45, and Penn, 47, spoke with PEOPLE about their experience on the show, while opening up about how they used their struggles with anxiety and ADHD to their advantage.

"She had panic attacks, I had space-out moments," Penn shares with PEOPLE exclusively. "So it was good and bad. But we were able to harness the good enough to get to the finish line."

Kim vocalized throughout the race that her battles with anxiety have kept her from stepping outside of her comfort zone, but "the act of writing things down" was "very calming" to her — something that she credits to their team's success.

"I was just trying to be really observant of numbers: What time we got to places… the time others arrived… how many kilometers we had driven," says Kim. "That sort of preparation served us very well in the end."

While there were certainly numerous instances where her notes paid off, Penn's "hyperfocus" was advantageous during challenges where copious amounts of information needed to be absorbed in a short period of time.

"I felt like my brain was useful when it came to that," explains Penn of his ADHD. "You can lock in on that thing and your memory, your ability to absorb information, becomes a superpower."

Proving that the race was just as much mental as it was physical, the winning duo "prepared pretty hard" in all aspects — prior to COVID-19 causing the longest pit stop in the show's 20-year history, and after the year-and-a-half pause when the race resumed.

Since they "were not expecting to go back" following the halted production, Kim said the only extra preparation they did before returning to the race was improving their map reading skills — although they regretted not working out more.

"I wish we had trained a little bit more physically," admits Penn. "We came back and everyone else looked like they just got out of American Ninja Warrior. They all looked so ripped!"

The couple confidently stated that although "navigating was [their] strength," they were in a constant "panic the entire time."

"We had more self-drives, I believe, than any other season," says Kim. "There's a special sort of panic when you're sitting, navigating, and driving in a foreign country without a GPS. That to me, without a doubt, was the hardest part."

While foreign road signs and lettering was difficult to interpret for the pair (particularly in Greece, the pair said) Penn was able to use his bilingual banter to his advantage in other countries.

"Just the ability to introduce yourself to someone and to get basic directions was really nice," shares Penn. "I'm very grateful to my high school French teacher!"

They also revealed that constant strategizing during pitstops gave them a competitive edge, which is usually the part of the race that's supposed to be a relaxing break for teams to rest, replenish, and recoup.

"Kim would get her notepad out and just draw pictures and visualize all the things that happened, which was the reason we won in the end — because of the memory challenge," says Penn. "She had me do that as well! The downtime can be very productive if you allow it to be."

Although Kim and Penn are no strangers to the camera, as popular social media content creators amassing nearly a million followers on Instagram, they explained that filming for television was completely different (aside from the fact that they weren't filming on their iPhones).

"We edit and control everything [in our day-to-day lives], so it was scary for us to give that control away," admits Penn. "I am so thrilled with how real and honest CBS was with this edit, particularly showing all of the struggles that we have with mental health. I was really impressed with how they did it and handled it."

On the other hand, Kim "hated watching it," but "loved the outcome," saying, "I was so nervous. I did not enjoy watching myself on TV ... It was a privilege to be on the race, but I had a really hard time watching myself."

The parents of two said while they learned a lot from competing in the race, they ultimately hoped that their teenaged son and daughter would take away valuable life lessons from watching as well.

"I hope they see that living life outside of your comfort zone, amazing things can happen," says Kim.

Penn adds that in addition to working hard, not giving up, and studying — "the reason why we won the race" — "getting the most out of your partner, and being able to work with a partner, can yield unbelievable results."