Emily Osment's 'Young Sheldon' pregnancy caused a cracked rib | Exclusive

Bryan Alexander, USA TODAYMon, October 19, 2026 at 5:36 PM UTC

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Even a fake pregnancy came with some painfully real complications for Emily Osment, who played Mandy McAllister on "Young Sheldon."

Osment, 34, reveals in Jessica Radloff's new book, "Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw's-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy" (out Oct. 20), that she cracked a rib while wearing the heavy prosthetic belly required for her character's pregnancy with boyfriend Georgie Cooper (Montana Jordan), Sheldon's older brother.

"The hardest part for me was wearing that baby belly," Osment says in the book, which USA TODAY can exclusively excerpt. "That was tough. It was twelve and a half pounds of silicone. 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."

The actress says the realistic prosthetic required multiple layers of bodysuits and clothing, and was so cumbersome that she sometimes wore it for 12 hours straight rather than struggle to remove it during short lunch breaks (and then put it right back on).

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"I actually cracked a rib while wearing it for so long, and went to the hospital because I was having such horrible pain in my side," Osment recalls. "The nurses were like, 'Has anything changed in your life recently?' I was like, 'Well, I'm pretending to be pregnant for my job and I'm wearing something really heavy, and they're like, 'That makes sense.'"

Unlike an actual pregnancy, which allows the body to adjust gradually to increasing weight, the prosthetic forced Osment to carry the additional pounds immediately, the likely cause of the injury. The injury left her resting between takes.

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"They just had me sit down as much as possible between takes," she says. "There's not really much you can do for a rib."

Mandy finally gave birth to daughter Constance "CeeCee" Cooper in the Season 6 episode "A Launch Party and a Whole Human Being," which aired in 2023. The arrival would eventually help set the stage for the spinoff "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage," starring Osment and Jordan.

Radloff writes of the episode: "As far as birth episodes go, it deserves a place among some of the greats" on TV.

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The episode's multiple storylines also featured Meemaw (Annie Potts) undergoing hemorrhoid surgery, leaving both actresses stuck in hospital attire.

"The best part of it was that Annie and I were both uncomfortable being in hospital gowns, so that made it a little better," Osment says in the book. "Trying to make me look tired and putting baby food on my clothes and messing my hair up, I was like, 'Do I get to be hot at any point? Please!'"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Emily Osment's 'Young Sheldon' pregnancy caused a cracked rib | Exclusive

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