From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcontrary to popular belief/opinioncontrary to popular belief/opinionOPPOSITE/REVERSEused to say that something is true even though people believe the opposite Contrary to popular belief, a desert can be very cold. → contrary
Examples from the Corpus
contrary to popular belief/opinion• Contrary to popular belief, gorillas are shy and gentle creatures.• Actually, contrary to popular belief, hallucinations were not part of the original definition of schizophrenia.• And contrary to popular belief, we don't want to wear the trousers at home. 