From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbelieve it or notbelieve it or notBELIEVEused when you are saying something that is true but surprising He enjoys school, believe it or not. → believe
Examples from the Corpus
believe it or not• Lives in the next village, believe it or not.• Name's Virginia, believe it or not.• She put on her pale-blue linen Jaeger dress and, believe it or not, a little hat.• Now this happened to me again, believe it or not, a year or two later.• This week, believe it or not, another, almost identical saga began.• And so, believe it or not, he puts on the magic shoes and limps off to the funeral.• But, believe it or not, neither are the networks.• Well, believe it or not, we're getting married.• The eventual headliners, believe it or not, were Mud. 