Shelley Ballantyne became involved with the cult religion when she was just seven — and fled from it ten years later.

Yesterday she told The Sun: “I’m so glad Katie has done what she has. If Suri had entered Scientology like I did, her whole childhood would have been ruined.

“I have no happy memories of my childhood. All I had was years of misery.

“You spend your whole time studying Scientology and working for them. It’s not the way a child should be brought up, with no laughter or fun. It would have been horrid for Suri.”

Last month Katie announced she was divorcing hubby Tom Cruise and seeking sole custody of six-year-old Suri amid fears that he would force the couple’s only child to join an elite Scientology group.

Shelley had a normal upbringing until her mum Phyllis died of cancer aged 41 and her daughter was seven.

Speaking at her home in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, Shelley, now 23, recalled: “My mum and dad separated when I was about four.

Now a single mother of an 18-month-old son, Shelley said her time with the Scientologists has ruined her relationship with her father, who she rarely sees.

She said: “I feel he robbed me of my childhood. I was a perfectly happy little girl and then was thrown into a life of misery.

“I’m so happy Katie has taken Suri away from Scientology. Tom should be glad too because Suri could have ended up hating him — like I hate my father.”