Scientologists hold a 'blackmail file' on John Travolta to stop him leaving the faith, which includes 'damaging material' from his sessions with auditors at the church, it has been claimed.

A documentary investigating the religion and its secret California-based headquarters features a number of allegations about how members are threatened and tortured in prison-style camps and cut off from their family if they decide to leave Scientology.

Others belonging to the most senior order of the faith have been forced to play musical chairs to the sound of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody in a fight to secure a chair to stay in the church, it was claimed.

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A documentary claims to have revealed secrets about the church of Scientology, including that members hold a blackmail file on John Travolta and others have been subjected to hard labour in 'prison camps'

The allegations featured in 'Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief', a documentary shown on HBO in America on Sunday evening.

The claims have been disputed by the Church of Scientology who have branded those who featured in the show - many former senior members - as 'admitted' liars and perjurers and 'professional anti-Scientologists.'

Directed by Alex Gibney, Going Clear aimed to expose the secrets behind the mysterious faith followed by thousands of people including film stars John Travolta and Tom Cruise. It included interviews with former senior members and officials who made explosive claims about punishments endured by members and how followers have been manipulated.

These included descriptions of a 'prison camp', revealed by former member Sylvia 'Spanky' Taylor. People put into this camp are forced to do around 30 hours of hard labour, broken up by three hour rest breaks.

Spanky was once the point of contact between the Church and Travolta and said she was sent to this 'prison camp', known as the Rehabilitation Project Force which, she claims, is where members are 'reindoctrinated.'

The documentary also claimed Scientology chiefs hold a 'black PR package' on Travolta, with all the disclosures he made during auditing sessions. During these sessions a trained auditor asked pointed questions such as 'What are you willing for me to talk to others about?'

Travolta is said to have requested that his sessions were not filmed, but secret cameras were allegedly installed anyway.

As well as the claims about Travolta, former senior members of the faith told documentary makers about the various forms of punishment meted out by leaders.

The show claimed there is a 'black file' on John Travolta, which includes records of his auditing sessions

Senior members of Scientology, that are part of the higher Sea Org order, apparently are forced to play musical chairs to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen to vie for a place in the church, as a form of punishment

Another form of punishment involved members of the highest ranking order within the Scientology church, Sea Org, whose members are said to be punished by being thrown in 'The Hole'.

As well as beatings in 'The Hole', they are allegedly also subjected to demeaning tasks including mopping up the floor with their tongue to force t them to confess their crimes against the Church.

Others are apparently ordered to play musical chairs to the sound of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody - fighting each other for chairs which allow them to remain in the church, with losers being expelled.

Being expelled from the Church of Scientology comes at a high price, because all friends and family that are still with the religion are forced to cut any ties with departing members.

Scientology is believed to be one of the reasons behind the breakdown of Tom Cruise's marriage to Katie Holmes because he was understood to have wanted to send their daughter Suri to Sea Org, according to reports at the time. In an interview with the New Yorker in 2012, Scientology spokesmen denied the claims.

Tom Cruise allegedly worked with the Church of Scientology to wire tap former wife Nicole Kidman's phone

This strictest order of Scientology is run with rigid rules, with members being paid just $50 a week and being forced to leave if they have children. Members must pledge their allegiance to the faith for a billion years.

It has also been claimed that the church helped Cruise find a new girlfriend when he opened a new site in Spain and was single.

Officials are said to have found scientologist Nazanin Boniadi and had her braces removed, spent $20,000 on clothes and had her hair dyed to Cruise's liking, the Huffington Post reported. The relationship soon ended.

Former senior executive Mark 'Marty' Rathbun was also interviewed for the documentary and made claims about the church's tax requirements. Rathbun was a senior aide to the current leader of the Church of Scientology, and alleged the church's goal was to be recognised by the Inland Revenue Service (IRS) in order to be made a fully tax-exempt religion, which it achieved in 1993.

Members are said to have filed dozens of lawsuits against IRS and employed private investigators to dig for information in a bid to get the church recognized.

Sylvia 'Spanky' Taylor - once a member of the Church and the point of contact with John Travolta - described a prison camp where members would be forced to work 30-hour shifts, with around three hours of breaks

Another senior former member interviewed was Paul Haggis, a former director of the church. He said once members reached a certain level they would see founder L. Ron Hubbard's handwritten account of the creation myth.

This states that Zenu, a galactic dictator froze people and dropped their bodies into volcanoes, 75 million years ago. These spirits are said to have jumped into the bodies of newborns and are now used as the explanation for the source of all of our anxieties and fears. Hubbard is also said to have created 'Ethics' - a series of punishments for auditors who made mistakes.

Mr Haggis left the church citing problems with its stance on gay rights, after his two gay daughters told him how they were being treated by members. The Academy Award winning filmmaker wrote an infamous resignation to Tommy Miscavage, Scientology's chairman and Hubbard's successor, saying he was disappointed that he had failed to denounce actions of a San Diego church against gay people.

The documentary, based on a book by journalist Lawrence Wright, also claims that when the church thought Cruise was ‘slipping away’ during his marriage to Nicole Kidman, it worked with him to wiretap her phone, a claim that is flatly denied.

In an interview with Business Insider Gibney said he took great steps to ensure that those who spoke out were not put into a compromising position and he ensured he never filmed them at their homes or arrived at a meeting point at the same time.

He added: 'I often used throw-away phones and encrypted e-mail. People were so frightened.'

The Church of Scientology, which is believed to have around 50,000 members, denied the allegations featured in Going Clear and said the statements included were 'entirely false.'

Alex Gibney (left) directed the documentary and interviewed senior former members and Paul Haggis (right)

The documentary was screened in America on Sunday evening and is based on Lawrence Wright's book

In a statement it said: 'The Church has documented evidence that those featured in Gibney's film regurgitating their stale, discredited allegations are admitted perjurers, admitted liars and professional anti-Scientologists whose living depends on the filing of false claims. All have been gone so long from the Church they know nothing of it today.

'Yet Gibney and HBO stonewalled more than a dozen requests by the Church to offer relevant information about them, with more than 25 individuals with first-hand information eager to speak. To this day, neither HBO nor Gibney can deny that they have yet to present the Church with a single allegation from the film so the Church may have an opportunity to respond. The Church never sought special treatment, only fair treatment.'

Since Going Clear premiered at the Sundance Festival in January, the church has created a website dedicated to criticising the film and released its own version, called 'Get the truth.' Representatives also branded the documentary a 'bigoted propaganda piece.'

Other famous members have also criticised the show. Danny Masterton, a second generation Scientologist and former star of 'That 70s show', said he thought the book the documentary was based on was full of lies.

He told eonline: 'I wonder if Sundance would allow a documentary of, like, eight people who hate Judaism. But you know, my religion's fair game, I guess, "cause it's new".'

At the end of the documentary Gibney lists the people who refused to be interviewed, which included Miscavige, Travolta, Cruise and Kidman.

MailOnline has contacted John Travolta for comment.