'He Was a Baby!' Emily Osment's Candid Confession on Young Sheldon Kissing Scenes With Montana Jordan

Emily Osment joined the CBS comedy in 2022 and told author Jessica Radloff, in a new oral history of the series, that she was 30 when she began working opposite Montana Jordan, who was 18 at the time.

'That made me uncomfortable. He was a baby. A baby with a mullet,' she said.

The show never featured sex scenes, but Osment said she felt strongly that a coordinator should be present once the on-screen relationship between her character, Mandy McAllister, and Jordan's Georgie Cooper became more physical.

Emily Osment's Call for an Intimacy Coordinator

Osment said she raised the issue with producer Tim Marx on the day she realised how young Jordan was. According to the book, the production could not find a coordinator at short notice for that first episode, and one was instead brought in for the following instalments as the storyline became more overtly romantic.

'It made everything easier having one there. I think it's something that's really important,' she said.

She also suggested Jordan might not have known he could ask for the same support.

'I don't know if Montana even knew if he could ask for that. Like, let's give him the option, too. Make him comfortable. And he's such a sweet kid, I think he would just eat his discomfort,' she said.

Director Alex Reid said the team had 'totally dropped the ball' by not arranging a coordinator from the outset. He recalled a photograph taken between takes of the pair sitting in a car, both looking in different directions. Osment told him: 'That was so uncomfortable for both of us, because we didn't know each other.'

Writer Connor Kilpatrick said producers wrongly assumed neither actor needed extra guidance, because Jordan had filmed kissing scenes before with former co-star Isabel May and Osment was an experienced professional.

Co-creator Steve Molaro said Osment had 'every right to ask.' He added that she later felt comfortable performing without a coordinator as she and Jordan settled into their partnership.

The pair now lead the spin-off 'Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage,' which CBS greenlit in January 2024.

How the Show Tackled Georgie and Mandy's Age Gap

In the show, Georgie is 17 when he meets Mandy, who is 29. He tells her he is 21 and she claims to be 25. The truth emerges after Mandy becomes pregnant.

Showrunner Steve Holland told Radloff there were early discussions with CBS executives about whether the set-up might be perceived as 'illegal'. The writers made Georgie 17 in Texas, where 17 was the age of consent at the time.

'Not that it's not creepy, but we were trying to build the story in a way that no one was doing anything wrong,' Holland said.

He said the 12-year gap felt less jarring on screen because Osment and Jordan did not look dramatically different in age, and because Georgie was shown working full time at a tyre shop rather than sitting in a classroom.

Molaro said no laws were broken in the fictional universe, but acknowledged there were 'moral questions'. Osment recalled that writers initially considered ages for Mandy ranging from 27 to 35.

Jordan's mother told Radloff she was initially 'very uncomfortable' with the storyline. According to the book, her concerns eased as she saw how the production handled it.

Jordan, now 23, said viewers still ask how people would react if the genders were reversed.

'Which, OK, true. If it was the other way around it would be pretty weird,' he said.

He added that he was only weeks from turning 19 when he began working with Osment and did not dwell on the numbers. 'We had this great chemistry and it worked,' he said.