A bizarre cult where teenagers are banned from speaking to each other until they are married off has been exposed in a new documentary.

Footage from inside the community reveals how leaders match young men and women and use bloodlines to ensure members of the same families do not marry.

The sect, based in New Zealand's South Island, is secretive about its practices, but recently former members who fled the community have opened the lid on what really goes on.

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Paul Valor and Pearl Hope were arranged to marry after a 'shortlist' was devised by leaders to decipher which women are not too closely related to Paul for him to rear healthy children

It is typical for couples in the rural community on the West Coast of New Zealand's south island to birth as many as 12 children. Paul is the eldest of 11 and Pearl is the second youngest of 10. The couple so far have only two children

Young people are encouraged not to speak to the opposite sex until there is an arranged relationship in place, and are told if they do 'things could get messy', according to Paul Valour, one of the community's members

Paul Valor and Pearl Hope were arranged to marry after a 'shortlist' was devised by leaders to decipher which women are not too closely related to Paul for him to bear healthy children

The sect has drawn controversy over recent decades with founder Neville Cooper, who has legally changed his name to Hopeful Christian, convicted for three counts of indecent assault.

The documentary, Gloriavale - Life and Death, follows a young couple, Paul Valor and his wife Pearl Hope, as they embark on married life and raise their growing family, NZ Herald reports.

Like all married couples in the community, their relationship and other facets of their life have been decided on by the senior men of the community.

‘It’s the Gloriavale equivalent of an arranged marriage,’ TVNZ writes.

Teenagers are discouraged from speaking to one another until a wedding between them is arranged.

Otherwise ‘things could get messy,’ Paul says.

Under the guise of the lord’s will, the leaders arrange marriages by identifying partners that are not too closely related to have healthy children – which whittled down to just five or six women suitable for Paul in a community of round 530.

‘The leaders – they have got lists of all bloodlines and so when you come and ask them to get married, they can get you a list of, you know, five or six girls who you can marry without any problems and they’ll all be within your age bracket,’ Paul said in the documentary.

‘That’s what they call your shortlist.’

A wedding at Gloriavale, a cult which promises seclusion from the wickedness of the 'outside world'

Pearl said she loved whoever God wanted her to.

‘That’s a decision you make and it’s not hard, it’s easy,’ she said in the documentary, Gloriavale – A World Apart.

The couple have two children including a daughter named Esther and son Josiah.

Birth control is not permitted in the community, and it is typical for each couple to have as many as 12 children, with Paul being the eldest of 11, and Pearl the second youngest of 10.

Rose and Steady Standtrue, one of the oldest couples living in the community on the South Island’s West Coast, have 57 great grandchildren.

In troubled births, it is up to the father to decide if they take the newborn to a hospital.

‘If something did go wrong, it would be the father’s decision on whether or not we had to go in to hospital,’ Paul said.

Everyone wears blue in Gloriavale, where members follow the New Testament literally and birth control is banned

A happy couple finally kiss and they are carried from their wedding at Gloriavale in New Zealand's south island

It is typical for the men to make such decisions, with wives reportedly living in subjection to their husbands.

But, part of the second generation of his family born inside the community, Paul only knows the outside world through stories told to him by the leaders.

‘I believe that the truth is here,’ he said.

‘When people leave here, they are leaving the truth behind.’

After watching the documentary series, many aired criticism towards the Gloriavale community on social media.

Television production company Pacific Screen gained unprecedented access to the community, which follows a literal interpretation of the Bible’s New Testament.

‘It’s a relationship we’ve cultivated over many years,’ producer and director Amanda Evans is quoted on saying by TVNZ.

After watching the documentary, many aired criticism of the community on social media using the hashtag #Gloriavale

Another Twitter user joked that they would like to dump condoms on the community from a crop duster, as birth control is not permitted

Neville Cooper, who legally changed his name to Hopeful Christian, is the founder of Gloriavale. He was convicted of the indecent assault of three women aged 12-19 in the 1990s

Gloriavale is located in Haupiri, a small rural town on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island