In all fairness, in the UK, but it's a little outdated (from the perspective of younger speakers), who are more likely to use. 'to be fair'. Some people use both, and some even think there is a subtly different way of using them. Possibly the younger speakers over analysis the grammar and think "how can you be in/inside fairness". Because their English education does not cover the essential groundwork of English it's ancient roots which still form the bedrock of all our daily conversations.
EDIT yes it is real English.