Photo: © 2010 AP via AAP/Isaac Brekken

Miss Michigan, a 24-year-old immigrant from Lebanon named Rima Fakih, wooed a judging panel that included Donald Trump to take out the title.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's Imad Hamad hailed her victory as a sign of the "greatness of America, how everyone can have a chance to make it".

But within hours of taking the crown, photos emerged showing Fakih winning a strip tease competition in Detroit.

A statement released by the radio station that posted the photos on its website has pleaded with the event's organisers not to strip Fakih of her title.

"It would be foolish to consider anyone other than Rima to represent the USA.

"The photos taken from our website are no more provocative than those on the Miss USA website."