Tom Cruise's friend and fellow Scientologist Jenna Elfman is shooting down reports that the actor's five-month marriage to Katie Holmes is unstable.

"Honestly, they're happy," Elfman, 35, told PEOPLE at Thursday's Healthy Child Healthy World benefit in Santa Monica.

"They have a great life and they love each other. For some reason, the media cannot experience that. They must put in things other than the simplicity of it."

Several recent tabloid stories have alleged that Holmes has been living in a "prison-like" environment and that Cruise has pushed her to adopt his spiritual beliefs.

Elfman, who attended the couple's lavish wedding in Italy in November, tells PEOPLE the stories could not be further from the truth: "It's totally irrelevant, because it's so absolutely not that."

Elfman added, "It's hard to give a detailed explanation on something that's simple. Honestly, do any of you have a great boyfriend or girlfriend? It's not a big deal, right? You have fun hanging out, and you like talking and sharing your ideas. It's exciting. That's their relationship."

The Cruise family has been spending time in Louisiana lately while Holmes films the comedy Mad Money with Queen Latifah and Diane Keaton. Last week, they threw a first birthday party for daughter Suri at their Los Angeles home.

Elfman is herself seven months pregnant with her first child with husband Bodhi, 37, and tells PEOPLE she's hoping the give birth naturally. "Bodies have been giving birth for a really long time," she said. "I want to know what it's like to go through that process. I'm just going to be as focused and patient as I can be."