Emily Osment says the prosthetic pregnancy bump she wore on Young Sheldon weighed 12.5 pounds and sometimes stayed on for up to 12 hours. After developing severe pain in her side, she went to the hospital and learned she’d cracked a rib.
The 34-year-old played Mandy McAllister, who becomes pregnant with Georgie Cooper’s baby on the CBS prequel to The Big Bang Theory. In Jessica Radloff’s book, Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy, Osment called wearing the silicone bump “the hardest part” of the job.
The production tested several versions. Osment explained: “They tried out a couple of ’em, and the ones that look the most real are the ones that make you walk funny so you can really pull it off.”
Removing it meant dealing with multiple layers of bodysuits and clothing, so she’d sometimes keep it on through the day. She recalled telling hospital nurses that her job involved pretending to be pregnant while wearing something heavy, after they asked whether anything in her life had changed.
The injury meant she had to “sit down as much as possible between takes,” Osment said. “There’s not really much you can do for a rib.”
Mandy gave birth to her and Georgie’s daughter, Constance “CeeCee” Cooper, in season 6. Osment and Montana Jordan, who plays Georgie, went on to lead Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, which premiered on CBS in October 2024, 5 months after Young Sheldon ended its 7-year run.