Pack your bags, because The Amazing Race is back for its 30th season! Every week, Parade’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the team most recently eliminated from the race.

One step.

In a show that has teams clocking millions of steps by the end of it, there are those rare times when only a single step matters. Such was the case with Dessie Mitcheson and Kayla Fitzgerald, friends, models and “ring girls.” It was that one step into the Washington Square Park fountain to grab their very first waterlogged clue as host Phil Keoghan sent them off with his trademark, “GO!” while surrounded by hundreds of Race fans. It was that one step off the cliffs of the Geitárgljúfur in their first international visit of the race in Iceland, as Kayla decided to take a task-based opportunity to conquer her fear of heights by going out on a high-wire suspended over a waterfall caused by shifting tectonic plates. It was that one step of Dessie switching her “O”s to get their next destination of Ingólfstorg in the Roadblock, something that seemed to evade heavy hitters in the sports world like Shawn Marion and Conor Daly. And ultimately, it was one step that did them in. After losing their lead due to navigational and parking difficulties, they found themselves in a footrace with “Goat Yoga” creators April Gould and Sarah Williams. They were hopeful that the Brennivin and cod liver oil in their systems would put some pep in their step, and it came down to a quite literal photo finish at the mat between the two teams. But the camera betrayed the models this time, as Sarah had gotten her foot on the mat inches before Dessie, sending her and Kayla home as the first team eliminated in an already historic season.

Now out of the race, Dessie and Kayla talk with me about what we didn’t see in the rush to the mat, why Kayla decided to take on the high line, and which teams they were already gravitating toward in their short time on the race.

I want to start with this extremely close finish. Dessie, I saw by the end of it all, you were completely shoeless. To kick things off, what ended up happening in that final stretch?

Dessie Mitcheson: We had a long haul to the end because we went the whole way around the lake, which you couldn’t tell. In the very beginning, when we started running against the Goat Yoga girls, my snow boots started coming untied. They’re already big on me, so I had to whip them off. I was just in my wool socks, running, and they slowly started to come off as well! So we went through a bunch while we were running there. The last dash is when it really went down for me because I peed my pants.

Kayla Fitzgerald: (Laughs.)

Wow! Well, you weren’t able to be team number one, but you were certainly number one in a different regard. So then what were your feelings when your elimination got revealed, considered you were shoeless, out-of-breath, and apparently soaked?

Dessie: I don’t think either of us expected to go out first. We did so [well] the rest of the race that it was really disappointing that that’s how it went down in the end.

When you were running along the shore with Team Goat Yoga, did you have any thoughts that you were the last two teams, or did you think someone was still behind you?

Kayla: I think Dessie and I both knew that it was down to the wire because there were only two spots in the marked parking. So at that point, we knew we were fighting for [elimination]. But even then, I was watching them both hit the mat at what I thought was the same time. So I thought, “Is there going to be a tiebreaker?” (Laughs.) It’s unfortunate, but we had some mishaps and Dessie had to pee, and her backpack locked up. The odds were not in our favor!

Let’s talk about the rest of your race. When you left the Roadblock, you were in a comfortable position. But we see you get to the strong people in near-last place. What happened between those two tasks?

Kayla: Like Dessie said, we were the sixth team to do the traversing. We finished that before Team Well-Strung, and we got to the Roadblock right after them. So we were in between sixth and seventh place for a good majority of the [leg]. Dessie left the Roadblock after trying it three times, maybe four. We left from there and got straight to the Icelandic strong people. We had just seen the “Green Goblins,” who we call the competitive eaters [Joey Chestnut and Tim Janus], and we thought, “Here’s the Green Goblins. We’re here; we got this! Let’s find parking; we’re right where we need to be.” Well, everything in Iceland had the same colors as The Amazing Race, so everything looked like marked parking. We couldn’t find the actual marked parking, and we drove around in that circle for probably an hour and fifteen minutes. We couldn’t find parking for the life of us. It was all one-way streets, and every time we asked somebody for directions, they would say, “Oh, you can’t go there. We don’t know how to get there.” Essentially, that was the demise of [the Ring Girls]. (Laughs.)

I know a few teams had problems with navigation, but it seems like you had issues find a parking space!

Dessie: We stopped along the way and asked this great guy at a gas station where to go for everything, and he gave us spot-on directions. So it was really just finding the marked parking.

I want to go back to the very beginning of the race. You had an electric start in Washington Square Park while surrounded by so many fans. How did that make you feel?

Dessie: I don’t know if you noticed my face, but I was so excited and so happy. I was grinning from ear to ear! I was just excited to be there because I wanted to do the show for so long. The crowd was going crazy, and just to see Phil gets you really pumped up. Plus my best friend’s mom was there cheering me on, and Kayla’s mom, stepdad, and I think aunt or cousin were there, right?

Kayla: Yeah, we had a little cheering crowd. (Laughs.)

You had a Ring Girls ring, that must have been nice! While you were getting to the airport and flying to Iceland, you must have gotten to know the rest of your competition. Who stood out to you?

Kayla: From the get-go, we had good chemistry with the competitive eaters and the violinists. We went into it thinking we would at least have some alignment with them. With Team Big Brother, [Jessica Graf] and I actually have mutual friends from LA. So we kind of telepathically said, “Hey, let’s be friends.” (Laughs.) Since we’re not allowed to talk until we get going. We thought we would be working together for the whole time, but obviously, we got booted. (Laughs)

Were there any teams you felt threatened by?

Kayla: Team Extreme. We thought originally, “Oh, we can probably beat them.” then we found out what they did, and we thought, “Oh, we’re definitely the underdogs.” (Laughs.)

Dessie: (Laughs.) Yeah, we thought, “Why are we on this show?!”

Kayla: Yeah! We thought, “Alright! We have NBA All-Stars, we have violinists who looked like they’ve won every fitness competition in the state…”

Dessie: “We have lifeguards who have saved, like, 1500 lives.” Everyone was so good at what they do; it’s crazy.

Let’s talk about Iceland. We saw a bit of the picturesque landscapes, but I can only imagine what it was like to experience that in person.

Dessie: Kayla and I enjoyed it while we were driving in the car as much as we could. But I would love to go back to Iceland and not be panicking or racing, where I could really take in how beautiful it is! When Kayla was traversing, I was just looking at her. I didn’t get to look down at the river once. It was so fast how everything happened, so it’s tough to take in the beauty like you normally would.

Speaking towards that traversing, Kayla, what made you decide to conquer your fear of heights right there and take on the task?

Kayla: Part of wanting to do the race was being able to experience those things with my best friend, but also prove to myself that I am competitive. Fear doesn’t conquer me. Initially, when I saw it, and I knew it was something to do with heights, Dessie and I looked at each other, and I said, “I’m doing it.” I wanted to get it out of the way on the first leg, so that way along the [race], it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

You went from a relatively warm fall right into the cold of Iceland. Did the difference in climate affect the way you viewed the race at all?

Dessie: For sure. I live in Orange County, and Kayla lives in LA. Then we went to New York, where it was still 70 and nice out. So to go from that to 40-degree weather, I think it changed everyone’s perspective. Kayla and I were in the airport, putting on our fuzzy, warm socks, taking out our hats and gloves and layering up to be ready when we landed.

And you almost lost those fuzzy, warm socks in the photo finish!

Dessie: (Laughs.) Yes, exactly!

Kayla: (Laughs.) That was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

I noticed after the elimination results came in, you did seem to take things in stride, which I don’t know if other pairs would be able to do in the same situation. What do you chalk that reaction up to?

Kayla: I think Dessie and I try to take everything with a grain of salt. Everything happens for a reason, and we were honored and really lucky to be a part of this season. Thousands and thousands of people submit, and we were on the thirtieth season of The Amazing Race. Essentially, we were really upset and hurt that we lost because that was not the way we wanted to go out. However, we have to take everything we got to experience and turn it into something positive and know there’s more to come from this.

You two were close friends before coming into this season. Did you see new things in each other from your time on the race?

Dessie: If anything, it just proved to me that she’s more of a badass than I ever thought! It’s brought us so much closer. We had a great time together. Even after the race, when we were together for two and half weeks with no phones, no TV, we didn’t fight at all. It just brought us closer together.

Kayla: I definitely agree with that. I was impressed; she killed everything that we did. We both knew that we would work well together, but you never know when it’s in such a high-strung circumstance how it’s actually going to affect you. We always knew that we had a really great relationship, but this elevated that and took it another level. It definitely brought us closer. We’re thankful for that experience.