MISS California Carrie Prejean, who became the bombshell of the Miss USA pageant by saying gay couples should not be allowed to marry, said her state sponsors urged her to apologise but she rejected the advice.

Ms Prejean, 21, said officials from the Miss California USA pageant were worried that her comments would cost their contest financial backing and tried to discourage her from discussing her religious beliefs.

Ms Prejean, who was named first runner-up to Miss North Carolina and will remain Miss California until November, has spent the last week defending her comments, made during the pageant’s final round.

They came in response to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton’s question about legalising same-sex marriage.

“We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage,” she said. “And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think I believe a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offence to anybody, but that’s how I was raised.”

She offered her version of the Miss USA pageant while appearing at the The Rock Church, San Diego, the megachurch that has helped shape her views.