LOS ANGELES • Does Tom Cruise really need help to find a girlfriend?

Apparently, the Church of Scientology, of which he is a member, thought so after he split from Nicole Kidman in 2001.

That claim was made by another church member, who told Today host Megyn Kelly on Wednesday that Scarlett Johansson was among several women who had auditioned to be in a relationship with Cruise.

Mr Brendan Tighe said he was part of a team providing security for Cruise.

Actress Johansson, 33, was not amused by what he claimed, telling the Hollywood Reporter: "The very idea of any person auditioning to be in a relationship is so demeaning.

"I refuse for anyone to spread the idea that I lack the integrity to choose my own relationships."

The Church of Scientology also shot down Mr Tighe's assertion, saying that he was its security guard/night watchman from 2002 to 2009.

"The 'access' he boasts of having was largely limited to viewing security cameras from a guard booth. He was removed from that position for dereliction of duty," it added.

Mr Tighe's account adds to another published in Vanity Fair in 2012 that said actress Nazanin Boniadi reportedly cleared a Scientology audition, ending up in a relationship with Cruise from November 2004 to January 2005.

Cruise went on to marry actress Katie Holmes in 2006 but they divorced in 2012.