Concord: there's/there are + plural noun

[Molly]

Natives, going from intuition, which form would you say is more common in both the formal and informal register?

There's hardly any apples in the fridge.
There are hardly any apples in the fridge.

Is "there's" in "There's hardly any apples in the fridge." comparable to the German es gibt?

The BNC (in the spoken register):

there are no + plural noun - 0 per 1 million words
there's no + plural noun - 8 per 1 million words

there are loads - 8 per 1 million words
there's loads - 74 per 1 million words

there are things - 36 per 1 million words
there's things - 17 per 1 million words

What's happening?