Why Emily Osment needed an intimacy coordinator on Young Sheldon
A sensitive detail about co-star Montana Jordan left the actress uneasy right before their first romantic scene.
Emily Osment asked for an intimacy coordinator to be brought onto the set of Young Sheldon before filming kissing scenes with co-star Montana Jordan, explaining that their real-life age gap made the romantic scenes uncomfortable.
The details emerged in Jessica Radloff’s oral history book Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy, published on October 20, 2026, and first reported online by Variety. The report was also covered by the Daily Mail.
When Osment joined the CBS comedy during Season 5 in 2022 to begin their characters’ romantic storyline, she was 30 years old and Jordan was 18 years old. In the show, Osment played 29-year-old Mandy McAllister, while Jordan played 17-year-old Georgie Cooper, with both characters lying about their ages when they first met.
Setting boundaries on set
In the book, Osment shared that the age difference made her hesitant when it came time to film their first on-screen kiss. “That made me uncomfortable. He was a baby! A baby with a mullet,” Osment said.
Osment went to producer Tim Marx on the day the scene was scheduled to request an intimacy coordinator. Because the request arrived late in the production schedule, the crew could not secure a specialist that afternoon, but one was hired for subsequent shoots as the characters became closer.
“So I spoke to Tim Marx, and obviously they were not able to get one that late in the day, but for the next few episodes they had one there, since the relationship between them escalates,” Osment said. “It made everything easier having one there. I think it’s something that’s really important.”
Osment explained that she also wanted to protect her younger co-star, who had grown up on the set since the comedy premiered in 2017. “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,” Osment said. “And he’s such a sweet kid, I think he would just eat his discomfort. But I love those guys, and I’m really happy it got to the point where they were able to do that [for us].”
How the crew responded
Director Alex Reid, who directed episodes of the series between 2017 and 2024, admitted that production “totally dropped the ball” by initially failing to hire an intimacy coordinator. The network sitcom did not feature simulated sex scenes, which led producers to overlook the need during early planning.
Reid recalled the awkwardness of filming the first kiss in a car before the actors knew each other well. “I have a photo between takes of them sitting in that car when we shot that, and they’re looking off in other directions. I showed it to Emily and she said, ‘Yeah, that was so uncomfortable for both of us, because we didn’t know each other,'” Reid said. “It wasn’t even about the lack of an intimacy coordinator. It’s just you’re having to make out with somebody you just kind of met.”
Series co-creator Steve Molaro noted that Osment had “every right to ask” for professional support on set. Molaro added that as the two actors developed a strong working dynamic over time, “she was comfortable without one.”
The two actors went on to anchor their own spinoff series, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, which premiered in 2024 after Young Sheldon wrapped its seven-season run on CBS. The book does not identify the intimacy coordinator who joined the set, nor does it specify the exact number of Season 5 episodes that used the coordinator before both performers felt comfortable filming romantic scenes on their own.
