Pop mogul Simon Cowell said he has offered jobs to the couple who launched a successful campaign to prevent The X Factor notching up yet another Christmas number one.

Cowell said he was "gutted" at losing the battle for the top of the festive charts after Rage Against The Machine beat X Factor winner Joe McElderry to number one.

He was no "sore loser", Cowell added, as he revealed Jon (pictured) and Tracy Morter, who led the Facebook campaign which ended the talent show's four-year run of number ones, had turned down his job offers.

Cowell said he was "genuinely impressed" by their campaign which he said had no funding and had not resorted to dirty tricks.

"I offered them jobs at my record company. It could be in marketing or even running the company!" he told the Daily Mirror.

"I wanted them to come and work for us. I was deadly serious but they haven't taken me up on the offer."

Cowell told the newspaper he now realised he had "taken too much for granted" and now accepted that some people do not like The X Factor.

When the chart was revealed yesterday, Cowell said: "I am gutted for Joe because a number one single meant a lot to him, but I have to congratulate Jon and Tracy.

"I called Jon on Saturday to congratulate the two of them that, win or lose, they turned this into a very exciting race for the Christmas number one.

"I am proud of Joe - he worked really hard this week, but he has a great year ahead of him."

Mr Morter said their victory was "pretty amazing".

"It's yet to sink in," he said last night.

"We just got our heads down and gave it a try and we've pulled it off and it's fantastic, brilliant."

Rage Against The Machine, a rap metal act, saw their expletive-ridden 1992 hit Killing in the Name sell 500,000 copies in one week and become the first ever Christmas number one that was available only through downloads.

McElderry's The Climb chalked up sales of 450,000, meaning a bonanza week for record company Sony and retailers.

The 18-year-old took his defeat graciously, saying: "Fair play to the guys who have organised the Facebook campaign - it's been exciting to be part of a much-hyped battle and they definitely deserve congratulations."

Thanking all the fans who bought his single, he went on: "This time last year I never thought for one minute that I'd win The X Factor, never mind about having a debut single out, so I'm just delighted to be in the charts.

"It's been such an incredible couple of months and I got the best Christmas gift I could ever have asked for in winning The X Factor."

In a phone interview for BBC Radio One's Chart Show, Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine said the band were "very ecstatic".

He went on: "It says more about the spontaneous action taken by young people throughout the UK to topple this very sterile pop monopoly and less about the song and the band.

"We are very proud to have had the song chosen as the vehicle by which to do this."

A "large portion" of the proceeds from the single will go to homeless charity Shelter, de la Rocha said.

The band plan to stage a free gig in the UK next year to celebrate.

Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot said: "Congratulations to Rage Against The Machine on their number one - as we have seen in recent years, overhauling any X Factor winner in the race for the Christmas number one is no mean achievement.

"The popular support we have seen for the record this week has been truly amazing - and handed them two all-time records.

"But congratulations too should also go to Joe McElderry. In taking the number two spot, he has still achieved one of the highest weekly sales of any single this year - in almost any other year, 450,000 copies would have given him the Christmas number one."

Gennaro Castaldo, from high street retailer HMV, said it was "possibly the greatest chart upset ever" and added that bad weather may have prevented McElderry fans getting to the shops to buy his CD.

"Rage Against The Machine may not be the ideal expression of the Christmas spirit - and many people will have preferred a more appropriate song to top the festive charts, but their anti-corporate message proved a perfect vehicle through which to register such a powerful protest."

The past four Christmas number ones were by X Factor winners Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke.

Burke's version of Hallelujah last year was one of the biggest selling festive singles ever.

However, Cowell kept a hold on the album chart as Susan Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream remained at the top spot for a fourth week.

Mr Morter reiterated today that it was nothing personal against McElderry, who, he said, would probably go to number one next week.

"He's been a little bit unfortunate that it's been this year that I snapped," he told BBC Breakfast.

"I think he's a fantastic talent. I think that he's going to have loads of number ones.

"He'll be number one next week without a shadow of a doubt. He's going to have a great career ahead of him."

Mr Morter said members of the Facebook group had already donated more than £70,000 to the homelessness charity Shelter and he hoped it would raise more.

Mr Morter said he was making a cup of tea when Cowell phoned and at first thought it was a prank by a friend.

He said music mogul was "very pleasant" and praised the way the campaign had been conducted.

They talked in general about music, he said, and Cowell said "he might have a look at how things go with releases etc" but Mr Morter said he was not certain what Cowell meant by the remark.