Yesterday I woke up thinking about this question, and I believe I have a proof, but I'm not sure of its validity.
Let $\gamma : [a, b] \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{2}$ be a path from $(a, f(a))$ to $(b, f(b))$. First of all, I will show we may take WLOG $\gamma$ to be injective. Consider a point $\alpha = (p, q) \in \mathbb{R}^{2}$. Consider the set $S = \{x \in [a, b]; \gamma(x) = \alpha\}$, which we suppose non-empty. Let $c = \inf S$, $c' = \sup S$. By the continuity of $\gamma$, we have $\gamma(c) = \gamma(c') = \alpha$. We may now consider the equivalence relation $\sim$ on $[a, b]$ which sets $x \sim x$ and $z \sim y$ for $z, y \in [c, c']$. The quotient space $[a, b] / \sim$ is homeomorphic to an interval (since $a < c \leq c' < b$, by the continuity of $\gamma$), and the induced map $\bar{\gamma} : [a, b] / \sim \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{2}$ may be taken as a path which passes through $\alpha$ only once.
Since $[a, b]$ is compact and $\mathbb{R}^{2}$ is Hausdorff, $\gamma$ is a homeomorphism onto its image. Clearly $\gamma([a, b]) \subset G(f)$. We must now show this is an equality, which is done via the intermediate value theorem. Consider $\pi_{1} : G(f) \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ to be the projection onto the first coordinate, which is continuous. Consider $\phi = \pi_{1} \circ \gamma : [a, b] \rightarrow [a, b]$, which also is continuous. Since $\phi(a) = a, \phi(b) = b$, $\phi([a, b]) = [a, b]$, and therefore $\gamma([a, b]) = G(f)$. Thus $f$ is a function whose graph is homeomorphic to its domain. We will show in the next paragraph that this implies the continuity of $f$.
Indeed, suppose $g : [a, b] \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ has a homeomorphism $H : [a, b] \rightarrow G(g)$. This induces a map $T : [a, b] \rightarrow [a, b]$ such that $H(x) = (T(x), g(T(x))$. We note $T$ is continuous since $T = \pi_{1} \circ H$. It is clearly seen $T$ is bijective, and thus a homeomorphism since [a, b] is compact and Hausdorff. Since $g \circ T$ is continuous, $g \circ T \circ T^{-1} = g$ also is.
Best Answer
Here's a different argument.
Suppose $\{x_n\}$ is a sequence in $[a,b]$ converging to some $x$. We will show that there is a subsequence so that $f(x_{n_k}) \to f(x)$. This is sufficient; for if $f$ were not continuous at $x$, there would exist an $\epsilon$ such that for any $n$ we could find an $x_n$ with $|x_n - x| < 1/n$ but $|f(x_n) - f(x)| > \epsilon$. Then we would have $x_n \to x$, but no subsequence of $\{f(x_n)\}$ could converge to $x$, contradicting our claim.
Since the graph of $f$ is path connected, there is a continuous path $c(t) = (u(t), v(t))$ with $v(t) = f(u(t))$ for each $t$, and $c(0) = (a, f(a))$, $\gamma(1) = (b, f(b))$. By the intermediate value theorem, for each $n$ there is a $t_n \in [0,1]$ with $u(t_n) = x_n$. Since $[0,1]$ is compact, we can find a subsequence $t_{n_k}$ converging to some $t$. Then by continuity of $u$, since $u(t_{n_k}) = x_{n_k} \to x$, we have $u(t) = x$. Now $v$ is also continuous, so $$f(x_{n_k}) = f(u(t_{n_k})) = v(t_{n_k}) \to v(t) = f(u(t)) = f(x).$$ We have thus constructed the desired subsequence.