First, anti-gay marriage comments during the competition drew and, in the eyes of some observers, may have been what cost her that title. She wound up as runner-up to Miss North Carolina. Since then, it was disclosed Prejean, 21, had had breast implants, paid for at least in part by the Miss California pageant itself in the hope, pageant officials explains, of helping Prejean as she competed in Miss USA. Fans are wondering whether Trump will utter the phrase attached to him forever by the show, "The Apprentice": "You're fired! And just as this was all unfolding, the celebrity Web site TMZ. Prejean had said the previously disclosed photos were taken when she was just 17, and were "surreptitiously to a tabloid Web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith.

What a difference a year makes. This year, all 51 Miss USA contestants have posed for their official photos wearing seductive expressions on their faces and not a whole lot else on their bodies. Taken by fashion photographer Fadil Berisha in dramatic black-and-white, the shots feature racy lingerie, smoldering looks and plenty of bare skin. We are owned by Donald Trump. Responding to reported angry phone calls to pageant officials over the steamy shots, Trump himself came to their defense. Besides, she added, the women in the pageant are not looking to bring peace to the world; they are all aspiring actresses and models. Too sexy?

She said, "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised. Trump, who owns the Miss USA pageant, says Prejean can retain her Miss California USA crown after she caused a stir expressing opposition to gay marriage and posing in racy photographs.

The directors of the Miss California USA pageant are currently looking into whether Prejean violated the page contract all contestants are required to sign before the November state contest. The document prohibits whoever holds the title of Miss California from making personal appearances, granting interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials and gives the pageant's directors the right to revoke her crown for breaching any of the document's provisions. Since being chosen runner-up at the Miss USA pageant, Prejean has made televised appearances at her San Diego church and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group that is opposed to same-sex marriage.