Miss Colombia Catalina Robayo  told off for not wearing underwear. Miss Universe organisers have been forced to reprimand a contestant for not wearing underwear during media appearances in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Photographers snapped more than they bargained for as Miss Colombia Catalina Robayo went commando while wearing very short skirts and speaking to reporters as part of her official pageant duties last week, Fox News reports.

President of the Miss Universe Organisation Paula Shugart told Fox she was shocked when she saw what looked like Ms Robayo's bare nether regions on the front page of a newspaper.

"When I saw the [commando] picture on the front page of one of the local papers and was very, very surprised," Ms Shugart said.

But when pageant officials confronted Ms Robayo, the 22-year-old insisted she had been wearing underwear, Ms Shugart said.

All the contestants have since been lectured about dressing appropriately.