Rihanna puts a four-letter swear word on her shoes as she appears on ITV's The X Factor

Although Rihanna, who seems to court controversy as did Lady Gaga last year, wore a demure tartan outfit she was having none of that request to tone it down, despite 45000 complaints last year.

In fact, she has caused another outcry on the family timed show by wearing shoes with the words "F*** Off" scrawled on the side in what was seen as a shambolic display.

Rihanna wears necklace with posssibly most offensive word in English language

The 23-year-old singer, who only sang the words "We Found Love" to a backing track for the hit single, still managed to set some pulses racing in her schoolgirl-style get-up, pairing the outfit with stockings with a metal-tipped collar and laddered stockings.

Fans in the front row gasped and pointed at the offensive wording on her shoes, The Sun reported.

Pics: Rihanna

"I was shocked. She's a rebel," said Lucy Morgan, 18.

Tamzin Lewis, 19, said: "They should have known she'd do something like that."

The song, number three on the ARIA charts in Australia after a high of number two, has attracted controversy.

The Rape Crisis Centre in the UK last week labelled Rihanna a "disgrace" for the video to the song, which sees the singer being spanked by Irish model Dudley O'Shaughnessy, who also pens the word "'mine" on her behind.

"It sends the message that she is an object to be possessed by men, which is disturbingly what we see in real violence cases," a spokesperson told The Daily Star.