Three decades after he found alternative-rock stardom as the frontman of Bush, Gavin Rossdale has a new job: TV chef.

In each episode of “Dinner With Gavin Rossdale,” which premiered recently on Vizio’s WatchFree+ platform, the singer and guitarist, 59, welcomes a different celebrity guest — first up was Serena Williams, followed by the likes of Selma Blair, Tom Jones and Jack McBrayer — into his Los Angeles abode for a home-cooked meal and an intimate conversation.

This interview with Rossdale has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: Why did you want to do a cooking show?

A: Two reasons. One was finding a job where I could stay home and be with my kids. The other was that I thought I could maybe develop people’s sense of who I am. But it was all a bit of a bluff, really: I’m not a professional chef who can tell you what to do. And I don’t want to be that guy. I’m a home cook, and I just based the show on fun dinners that I’ve had.

Q: There’s definitely as much talking as cooking in each episode.

A: The food is absolutely second place — maybe third place. People refer to it as a cooking show, but it’s really an interview show. I can’t stand someone giving me a plate of food, then poring over it: “What do you think?” The food just disarms people.

Q: Did you have other shows in mind as a model?

A: I thought “Dinner for Five” was amazing. I asked Jon Favreau to lunch when I first had the idea — we knew enough of the same people that he didn’t think I was stalking him. I wanted to know what the pitfalls were. Then I realized: Trying to get five people to look comfortable at a dinner where they just met, and I’m cooking? Awkward ... One-on-one seemed like a way to get much more out of it.

Q: In the episode with Serena, you guys talk about your long friendship. When did you meet?

A: Many years ago at my friend Nels Van Patten’s house. Must have been 1999 because I was making “Golden State,” which was the first record I made in America. I came over here and didn’t know anyone apart from Gwen. I’d been a really big tennis player when I was a kid but gave it up when I got into music. So I thought I’d pick it up again, and I found this guy who turned into one of my best friends. The whole Van Patten family — this is the actor Dick Van Patten — there’s three brothers, and I’m like the fourth. And when you went to their house, there were all these incredible tennis players there — it was like this tennis academy in Van Nuys. One day Serena showed up with Venus, and Serena told me, “Oh my God, I grew up on your music.”

Q: The two of you sing Bush’s “Comedown” at the end of her episode. Do you sing with each of your guests?

A: I sang with Tom. With Jack, they put a guitar out — “Let’s see what happens” — so I’m having a conversation with him, holding an acoustic for no reason. Well, the reason was that he might succumb to me seducing him into singing some Johnny Cash. But we didn’t do that. I just wanted to make people feel comfortable.

Q: You’ve been a musician long enough to know what success means in that world. What would success mean for this show?

A: I don’t know. I try to only work on stuff that I believe in and I love, which is enough for me since these days it’s a crap shoot as to which things are gonna connect. I’ve just made a new Bush record, even though I don’t need to make records in a way. I could just tour.

Q: Going on the road only to play the old hits —

A: It’s artistically bankrupt. If you’re an artist, you’re meant to reflect the zeitgeist, reflect the world, reflect something.

Q: You’ve lived in LA for two decades. Why did you move here?

A: Because Gwen (Stefani) got pregnant. We were always gonna live in London — she loved Madness and Sting — then the second she got pregnant, and we went to the first doctor visit, it was like, “We’re staying in Los Angeles.”

Q: How did you react?

A: Whatever she wanted. I had this very weird calling toward Los Angeles when I was a kid. I didn’t like the environment where I grew up in Swiss Cottage (in northwest London). It was all football fans tricking out their Ford Escorts, and I just felt stifled. I had to hide my love of David Bowie for fear of getting slapped around. And then I went to a really nice school with people with big futures, and I thought they were all posh ... So I was caught between two worlds, and I used to dream about Los Angeles.

Q: What was the dream based on?

A: Just the thrill of success — I saw it as a sort of Xanadu.

Q: Do you remember Bush’s first gig in LA?

A: Dragonfly on Santa Monica (in December 1994). The power went out three times. I thought that was the end — that we’d come a long way just to blow it. (KROQ program director) Kevin Weatherly, who basically put us on the map, he came backstage and he goes, “You guys are the real deal. Need better electrics, though.”

Q: In the ’90s, you struck me as a somewhat reluctant heartthrob. You understood the value of your looks, but you didn’t seem super psyched about it.

A: Because it was always used as a stick to beat me with. You could say that working with Steve (Albini) was an antidote to that. On the other hand, Jim Morrison looked really ... good. Mick Jagger looks great. Is that a crime? In the same way you can’t be responsible if you’ve got an eye on the center of your forehead, you can’t be responsible if the eyes are right where they should be.