The group of women was put together by Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige, to find the new Mrs Tom Cruise.

Candidates were reportedly told they were auditioning for a new training film and were asked a series of questions including “What do you think of Tom Cruise?”

“The Church screened at least two dozen women to date Tom Cruise after his divorce,” a source told website Radar Online.

“Tom had very specific demands about the type of woman he was interested in, including long dark hair, olive complexion and preferably an actress. Of course, he wanted her to preferably be a Scientologist too.”

This latest report comes after respected magazine Vanity Fair published an explosive article that makes numerous claims (which have all been denied by Tom and the Church of Scientolgoy) about Tom’s ties to the church.

The claims include that the church “auditioned” women to be Tom’s girlfriend, “instructed” Tom’s two adopted children with Nicole Kidman, Isabella and Connor, to reject her as a “Suppressive Person” and that Tom broke up with Penelope Cruz because she refused to give in to the Church.

Although Penelope, who is now married to Javier Bardem, began auditing sessions with the Church, she was branded a “dilettante” when it was discovered that she wouldn’t give up her Buddhist faith.

Online reports suggest that the Church stepped in to find Tom a suitable partner, and auditioned a group of chosen women which included unknown actress and fellow church member, Yolanda Pecoraro.

“The Church did set Cruise up with Yolanda Pecoraro and they dated in the summer of 2004, after his very public split from Penelope Cruz,” the Radar Online source said.

“The relationship with Yolanda lasted a few months, but Cruise grew bored with her, and wanted to date an actress that was known to the public.”

The Vanity Fair report also alleges that the church "auditioned" a group of woemn which included US actress and Church member Nazanin Boniadi to be Tom’s girlfriend.

The pair dated from November 2004 to January 2005 after she signed multiple confidentiality agreements, but the relationship was reportedly abruptly ended after she inadvertently insulted Scientology head David Miscavige, which completely turned Tom off.

The report claims Nazanin was informed of their break up by Tom’s staff, who told her to leave his home immediately. Soon after, Tom met Katie Holmes.

Former Scientologist Marc Headley, who claims he witnessed dozens of “auditions” take place, says the candidates didn’t just have Tom to please.

“It's not like you only have to please your husband - you have to toe the line for all Scientology,” he told Vanity Fair.

“You can’t do anything to displease Scientology, because Tom Cruise will freak out.”

Tom has strongly denied the claims in Vanity Fair, with his lawyer Bert Fields speaking out about the in-depth article and slamming the author Maureen Orth.

“Their story is essentially a rehash of tired old lies previously run in the supermarket tabloids, quoting the same bogus ‘sources’,” he told E! News. “It's long, boring and false.”

“Unless Maureen Orth keeps spewing this garbage on television, we probably won't sue them.

“But anyone associated with this sleazy story should be ashamed of themselves - not just for publishing lies, but also for being unoriginal, sloppy and dull.”

The Church of Scientology has also strongly denied the Vanity Fair claims releasing a statement saying that the auditions never took place.

“Vanity Fair relied exclusively on a small and ubiquitous group of anti-Scientologists...for the preposterous allegations and corroboration of the fiction which none of them witnessed firsthand,” the statement said.

“Indeed, the article fails to quote a single source who is not a vociferous anti-Scientologist. These apostates have shamelessly exploited Tom Cruise’s divorce by spreading false and invented tabloid stories in hopes of promoting themselves.”