So will Trump play her cards right?

There’s something surprisingly refreshing about Ivanka Trump.

In these “rich girls behaving badly” times, one would expect the 25-year-old daughter of Donald Trump to be seen boozing it up at nightclubs, arriving at red-carpet affairs sans underwear or peddling some sordid sex tape.

But that’s not The Donald’s little girl. She’s smart, cultured, tasteful and unfailingly polite.

“Some people party one way,” Ivanka says diplomatically. “I party another.”

Still, some wonder whether her newfound presence in the boardroom will add anything to “The Apprentice,” airing Sunday nights on NBC, which has seen flagging ratings in its sixth season.

Others question if she has what it takes to follow in her father’s deal-making footsteps.

To the latter, Ivanka gives a resounding yes. After all, she says, real estate is in her blood.

A graduate of the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, she’s vice president of development and acquisitions for the Trump Organization, where she helps oversee multimillion-dollar real estate projects in Las Vegas, Chicago and Dubai.

Donald Trump, not surprisingly, thinks his daughter is doing a great job.

“She’s a great gal,” he crows. “Everyone likes her style, her beauty. Everyone loves her.”

On “The Apprentice, she replaces Carolyn Kepcher, a veteran businesswoman who added kick to the show by skewering apprentice hopefuls with her finely honed barbs.

Her brother, Don Jr., 29, also has joined the show, replacing real estate lawyer George Ross.

“I’m having fun,” she says about her tour so far. “This is terrific.”

Ivanka, Trump’s daughter with first wife Ivana, first caught the public’s eye when she started modeling at age 16.

She later was featured in the 2003 documentary “Born Rich,” profiling the lives of wealthy kids. In the film, she shined as a grounded business student while many of her peers came across as boorish brats.

But she hasn’t escaped the gossip pages. There have been stories about her taking her bathing suit top off as a teen while in Nice and rumors of plastic surgery – including breast, nose and chin jobs – as well as her breakup with socialite Bingo Gubelmann, who produced “Born Rich.”

She calls the bathing suit and plastic surgery stories “absurd.” She acknowledges her breakup with Gubelmann, adding that she’s “happily single and exploring.”

Ivanka plans to start her own jewelry line, and points out that she hasn’t always worked for her father. She previously was a project manager in the retail development division of Forest City Ratner Companies in Brooklyn.

“We are similar in some ways,” she says, “but we definitely have our differences.”

The birthday bunch

Actor Alan Alda is 71. Actress Susan Howard (“Dallas”) is 65. Actress Barbi Benton is 57. Singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan is 39. Actress Kathryn Morris (“Cold Case”) is 38. Singer Joey Fatone (‘N Sync) is 30. Singer Nick Carter (Backstreet Boys) is 27. Actor Elijah Wood (“The Lord of the Rings”) is 26.