WE have her all wrong. In her first interview since the sex-tapes scandal surfaced, Paris Hilton says she’s really just a “shy” girl.

“People have a different impression of me than [how] I really am,” Hilton tells TV Guide in an interview to promote her reality show “The Simple Life.”

“I’m pretty shy. I’m sweet and a good person, and I love animals and I’m funny.”

Hilton and her childhood friend Nicole Ritchie star in “The Simple Life,” which places the two Bevery Hills rich girls smack-dab in the middle of a Midwestern farm town – then tapes the proceedings to document how these fish-out-of-water types deal with the locals.

In the show, Paris and Nicole move in with the seven-member Leding family and are forced to make their beds, stick to a midnight curfew and refrain from swearing (heavens!).

“We wanted to wear jeans and T-shirts, but [the producers] wouldn’t let us,” Richie says. “It was their idea for us to wear all the annoying designer stuff.”

“The Simple Life” will run for seven episodes on Fox.