X Factor judge Louis Walsh has told Joe McElderry not to lose heart after losing the battle for Christmas number one yesterday. He insists that Joe will go on to sell one million copies of his debut single ‘The Climb’ and more albums than RATM could ever hope for.

Louis told The Sun: “You always have novelty records at No1 for Christmas and Killing In The Name is nothing but that. Joe has nothing to worry about at all.

“With all the fuss about Rage Against The Machine, people might fail to realise that Joe has still sold 450,000 records, which is phenomenal. He only lost by a tiny 50,000 sales.

“He will sell a million singles. I think The Climb will be one of the biggest-selling singles of next year. Besides, it’s all about having a career – look at the albums chart. Alexandra Burke, JLS and Leona Lewis have all come from X Factor and sold millions.”

Walsh added: “Joe will go on to sell a lot more albums than Rage ever have done. He’s going to have a huge career. Missing out on No1 this week will not make a difference to his life.

“Rage Against The Machine couldn’t fill Wembley now. I think Joe will.”